Scars of the Present
by FieryPhoenixGirl119
Summary: SEQUEL TO TEAR-STAINED SCARS- When Sasuke Uchiha is sent on his first mission right after graduation and finds something terrible on his travels with his teammates, will he follow the rules and ignore the problem or will he pursue it and risk everything?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hi everyone, yes, this is the sequel to Tear-stained Scars, i hope you like it, and for all you new readers you might wanna go take a quick glance at the first story or else you will be completely confused. **

**enjoy.**

The afternoon sun shone brightly over the village hidden in the leaves. It was a cloudless day and all was mostly quiet, the only noises to be heard were the bird's singing and the hustle of the village marketplace.

But the golden silence can only last so long.

Sitting down next to a fountain in the schools main courtyard, the symbol of all things wild and free, a wolf laid in the shade, a dark green vest covering all but its head, legs, and tail, with the Kohona Military Police Force emblem on each side with the words "canine unit" printed underneath it.

The large clock on the outside of the academy moved ever so slowly to where one might go insane watching it for long periods of time. But Amaris the ninja-wolf knew better than to waste her energy getting agitated, her favorite Uchiha in all of this village would be coming out of those doors in 3……..2………..1

RING

The doors to the school slammed open as a stampede of children ran out, a few familiar faces stopped to give their old white friend a scratch behind her ears or a friendly treat saved for her from their lunches, as much as she enjoyed the attention she wouldn't take her eyes off the open double doors.

Finally she saw him come out, leaping off her haunches she escaped the hands which pet her and ran right up to her master, a rather handsome, teenage Uchiha boy of thirteen years, but his maturity surpassed his age by decades, or so his family bragged.

Letting his shoulder bag filled with scrolls and books which were to be memorized and read to the ground, the black-haired teen also greeted his minion with a scratch between her ears, not bothering to pick up his pack, the white beast did it for him, walking beside him all the way to the training field with the heavy load in her jaws.

Warm air blew from the east as the two silently walked through the town, but they didn't go home, no, they went to the forest training grounds.

Looking out at the expanse before him, which consisted of trees, trees, and even more trees; Sasuke stopped walking and took in one deep breath, already feeling Amaris prepare for their daily training sessions as her chakra exploded. From the corner of his eye something large and white invaded his vision, but these things no longer surprised or amazed them as they had when he was a child.

A brief moment of utter silence passed as the Uchiha and the Ookami gathered their energies, closing his eyes, Sasuke clenched his fist, making himself statue-like for more than a moment.

Suddenly, in a flash, the beast darted forward, the teen grabbing a handful of its long, white hair as it passed by, using it to pull himself up onto it.

Winding between the trees at a top speed, Sasuke had less than a millisecond of reaction time to see his targets and throw a kunai at them. That well hidden marks were scattered at random, at times he would even have to look behind himself as Amaris ran to make sure he didn't forget one.

But he never did.

The sound of metal penetrating wood ringing in their ears only encouraged the duo to go faster, and at a quicker pace. The moment the wolves' two front feet stepped into the clearing, the black-haired boy lept off its back, as he twisted in mid-air he grabbed many kunais form his pack and tossed them in ever direction, doing his best to imitate his elder bother's talents.

Landing with knees bent and one hand on the ground, his mount nowhere in sight, he pushed off and went into the trees, moving as fast as he could before the second part of his training session found him.

Knowing that in seconds he would have ten or so of his pet's conjured attack dogs on his tail, Sasuke grabbed more kunais from the pouch strapped to his leg and his more targets which had been set up just for this purpose.

Accuracy and speed were the goal here, which with the blood which ran in his veins he had the strong-points of both. But even though he was fat, the ninja-dogs were faster.

Claws digging into the bark of the tree limbs, they had all caught their target's scent, and an entire fleet of silent predators were only feet behind him. One brave one made a jump for it, his razor-sharp teeth which could rip off limbs and large chunks of flesh imbedded themselves into the smooth, porcelain skin of the Uchiha's ankle.

POOF

A miserable clone.

The pack split up, each one heading into a different direction. They had been tricked, how they could keep following a fake they didn't know, and now anger and irritation fueled their adrenaline rush.

But it was too late, by the time they had uncovered the imposter the real teen was crossing into an open field, signaling the end of the practice.

Seeing her master emerge from the brush, Ammy dismissed the clones, and they all, teeth, claws, fur and everything, disappeared into nothingness.

Hardly needing to catch his breath, the Uchiha remounted Amaris as he rode back through the trail to recollect his kunais.

X.x.x.x.x-X-x.x.x.x.X

"Twenty-five out of twenty-five, we did good today" the raven-haired teen remarked as he and his pet walked through the streets of Kohona, to the Uchiha District.

Hearing several laughing and happy voices as he approached his house, the Uchiha could tell by the sound and the mood of the area that only one event could have possibly of had happened here.

Itachi was home.

It was a rare but much-appreciated time, those one to two days each month he was home, when he wasn't on missions, out risking life and limb for the village he was raised in.

To the rest of the clan he was an idol, to his peers he was an over-achieving show-off, to the other villagers he was a hero, and to his enemies he was death itself.

But to Sasuke he was just his older brother, one who would always receive the spotlight as he himself was left in the shadows to shiver. But the feeling no longer made his chest ache as it had years before, he had taken a reality check, and this was indeed a reality.

As family and friends were worshipping their self-made god which was the clan prodigy, the pale Uchiha, followed by his loyal servant which was Amaris, went out to the back porch area to go and pry splinters from his pet's feet, which did hurt her but not badly enough to affect her speed or agility.

_WHINE_

The Ookami wasn't sure what hurt worse, walking on a splintered and blistered paw or having them pulled out. But her owner was kind and would rest her freshly de-splintered paws into bowls of fresh, cool water after he was done to dull the pain.

"Aye Sasuke, how was the academy?" a black-haired woman asked as she dried her hands off with a dishtowel. Standing in the doorway with the usual look of cheer covering her features, a white apron adorning most of her entire body, Mikoto Uchiha pursued to drill her son about his day at school.

After what seemed like one very annoying eternity of giving one-word answers to all her questions, his mother was finally pulled away by her duties to the guests which had come to see the ever-so-tired Itachi.

After finishing being doctor to his wolf's feet; the teen sat on the steps as he had done so many times before, getting some amusement from watching the white-furred creature next to him catch flies in her mouth, spitting them out less than a second later.

Becoming bored he glanced over at a decorative pot which had been left outside during a recent rain, seeing his reflection he couldn't help but stare at the scars under his one eye. Permanent symbols and reminders of that horrid event which took place years ago.

Images of shackled children, monstrous overseer's, human bones and death itself flashed through his mind, making him close his eyes and look to the sky, wanting to much just to forget any of it ever happened.

_Groan. _

Feeling his loyal companion's snout poke his hip in an attempt to make him feel better, Sasuke rested his hand on her side, absent-mindingly scratching the area, his mind fighting back the floods of emotions which had been haunting him for years made their usual comings which happened on a nearly daily basis for the teen.

Sensing her owner's anguish, the Ookami could only rest her head on his leg and be his only friend as he suffered through this time of pain as a celebration from which he was excluded proceeded inside of the place he called home.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: ok all, thanks for reviewing for ch.1, and sorry about the typos, stupid spellcheck don't catch those, anyway this one has sibling fluff galore, but dont worry story will get more serious in upcoming chapters, i promise**

Sasuke had decided to 'hit the hay' early that night. Mostly because he knew from much past experience that as joyous an occasion it is when his brother was actually home, it just meant that everyone automatically put the more inferior of the siblings into the back of their minds, it had been more than once that he had been pushed out of the way so that the clan's pride and joy may soar.

Sliding his bedroom door open and stepping inside, he removed his kunai pouch and his other weapons from himself, lazily tossing his clothes into a dirty laundry pile in the corner of his room, Amaris already comfy at the foot of his bed, head resting on tired paws.

Removing his shirt before crawling under the air-chilled covers he reached up and closed the blinds to the window above his bed, making things slightly darker.

Falling asleep was the easy part for the Uchiha, but his dreams were plagued by blurred visions and high-pitched sounds, he couldn't tell what they, or the noises and horrid sounds which pierced his ears and rang through his mind, were.

But above the noise one voice stood out among the rest.

"Sasuke" it could be heard, deep and echoing.

"Sasuke" it went again, becoming slightly louder.

"Outoto, wake up" when Sasuke heard the familiar voice and felt his air supply being cut off, his eyes shot open.

"If 'how to get yourself murdered in your sleep' is a new course at the academy then I say you pass with flying colors" Itachi teased as he set the pillow he had been using to smother his brother on the floor.

"_groan, _what time is it…….?" The sleep teen asked as he buried his head into his pillow.

"Not even eight p.m., I came to wake you up for dinner"

"Not hungry, now if you excuse me….." he tried to end the conversation by rolling on his side, back facing his older bother.

The long-haired young man just shook his head, the older his Outoto got the more angry and distant he became, he himself on the other hand had never had time enough to let simple human emotions have an effect on him, he had always been much too busy with missions and assignments.

But he used to have friends…………...ok, more like acquaintances that _used_ to be normal people, then when they became teenagers for some reason it gave them permission to become mean-spirited back-stabbing brats that end up ruining their lives and it all leads to the same place, which is a crowded jail cell.

And Uchiha Itachi, for one, was not going to just sit back and let that happen to him, and he was going to begin helping the situation by making sure the his shorter brother had plenty of family time, starting with dinner.

"No, no sleeping, you get up, now"

_Muffled groan_

"Uchiha Sasuke if you don't get up yourself I'll pick you up and _carry_ you over my shoulder and take you to the dining room myself, I'll even take the long way around for all the clan to see"

"You wouldn't da- gah!"

The next thing the ninja-in-training knew, he was being held by his legs, and all he could see was the floor several feet away from his face.

Amaris started barking at the commotion as her owner and his brother struggled with each other, the master was busy yelling and struggling while the bigger one was keeping a tight grip on him as he laughed at his little brother.

Remembering what he had learned about human anatomy only a few weeks before, the raven-haired teen punched his 'attacker' squarely where the kidney is located, causing them both to fall to the ground.

Trying to crawl to get away he felt an arm around his neck as he was being put into a choke hold, his fingers trying to pry the arm off as Itachi laughed and Ammy barked.

Then the door opened.

And who else would come and see what all the noise was about other than the main clan man himself, father.

And who could blame him for giving his sons the look he was glaring at them now?

Two young men, who are supposed to be examples of honor and prestige for all of Kohona to see, play-wrestling on the floor.

The little one with his face tinted pink from lack of air with one hand wrapped around the offending arm, the other pulling tightly on the elders' hair. While the assumingly more 'mature' one who's duty was the high rank of ANBU was laughing and just playing around, what nonsense!

"Father, I was just on my way back from waking up my foolish Outoto here and retrieving him for dinner"

"Alright, for starters, let him go before he passes out from air depravation" father ordered seriously, Itachi obeyed immediately and Sasuke dropped to the ground face first, still maintaining his grip on his brothers' hair.

"Sasuke, release!" his dad demanded, less than a second later his arm dropped to the floor, a few strands of black hair which had been pulled out by the roots falling along with it.

"Now BOTH of you stop this immature silliness and get washed up for supper, if I have to come after you again-"

"You won't father" the prodigy interrupted as he stood to his feet, bending over to help the other one up.

With the usual frown on his features, Fugaku turned and left, Amaris following him.

"You moron, why did couldn't of you just let me sleep?" Sasuke grumbled as he dug out a fresh shirt from his closet.

"Because I haven't seen you in over three weeks and wanted to spend time with my Outoto" he answered as he crossed his arms, saying the last half in a mocking voice.

"Stop calling me that, I'm not a little kid anymore Itachi, so just leave me alone"

Oh yah, he was most definitely a teenager.

"Whatever, just get yourself ready for dinner, if you don't' show just remember there's plenty more where that came from"

Resisting the urge to curse at him, the short-haired boy turned away as his nii-san left his room, after hearing the door fully close and the footsteps were a safe distance away, he smiled to himself and held his hand up, looking at the long black hairs –with the roots still intact- he had been holding in his hand. They were as good a trophy as any.

Still rather sleepy, Sasuke set the thin strands down on his dresser and stretched his arms, since when did his brother ever act so childish? He had been doing it more and more lately, so either he knew something that Sasuke didn't know or the high-stress missions were finally getting to him and he was finally losing it, either way the Uchiha teen was becoming tired of it, but he did have to admit-

It felt nice that Itachi still noticed him when no one else did.


	3. Chapter 3

Dinner was only to be described in one word: quiet.

Mikoto had prepared chicken bits with seasoned rice, and although all three of the men of the house were known to enjoy it, one of them was just pushing it around with his chopsticks, more than ready to be excused.

"Sasuke, are you feeling alright?" she asked, giving him a worried glance.

"I'm fine mother" he answered back, not even looking at her, just staring down at the food.

"Funny considering your palms are sweaty, you can't look anyone in the eye, and you're blinking a lot" Itachi stated, a small smirk playing on his thin line of a lip.

"And what does that mean?" Mikoto asked, her attention span split between her two sons.

Now the clan prodigy could have busted him right there and then for lying, because those said side-effects were all tell-tale signs of a liar, but instead he took another route.

"Means he probably is feeling nauseous and needs fresh air" he stated before sticking more rice into his mouth, ignoring the shocked look Sasuke was giving him. And of course no one would argue with his diagnosis, to the extent of their knowledge their son was perfect in everyway, and what he said was true.

"Ya, that's what it is, may I take my dinner outside?"

"Yes you may" she granted him permission, watching her black-and-white-clothed son dart out the door to the back porch, bowl and drink in hand.

Sasuke now sat out on the steps, a place where he had come to do heavy thinking many times before. He hadn't been hungry so he placed the dish on the ground next to him, a sign to Amaris to come eat up, which she always readily did.

As the only sounds that could be heard were the crickets chirping and late night birds calling, along with the sound of the wolf eating this gourmet dinner, the teenager rested head in his hands, closing his eyes, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, but it wasn't because of any threat to him, physically anyway.

There it was……..the mountain……….a flash of light…….…now he was inside a dark, stone building, the smells of rotting flesh and dried urine piercing his nostrils, causing him to gag……………another flash of light…………...he was now being pushed down into a kneeling position, two guards pressing down on his shoulders……………….he cant see anything……………….he cant feel anything………...his blood feels cold and sweat is making the blindfold which kept him at his enemies mercy rather damp……………...he can feel something with a pointy end touch the skin of his forehead, right between the eyes, a deep, gruff voice is heard…………….…saying some incoherent chant……… …….everything disappears.

Jolting awake, the Uchiha was wide-eyed as he looked about him. It was just _that_ dream, no, that _nightmare._

It had plagued him for weeks now, every time he tried to close his eyes and sleep, he would be awoken at the same part every single solitary time.

_Whimper_

He looked beside him to see Amaris, nudging his hand with her nose. She knew about the nightmares, and hated seeing him suffer from them. That's why he enjoyed her sleeping in his room, because after experiences like that is when you need a comforting friend to be right next to.

Even if they are just a wolf.

Giving her a reassuring scratch between her ears, he heard the door open, and recognizing the chakra signature he quickly wiped the sweat off his forehead, not wanting to receive prying questions from his nii-san.

"Still sneaking the good food out to the mutt?" a deeper voice inquired, using a favored name for the family pet.

"…………….." Sasuke didn't answer him, he was going to give him the silent treatment.

"Are you ok? You're suddenly so much paler than usual" The concerned voice of his older brother asked, placing a hand on the back of his cold, clammy neck.

Immediately shaking the unwanted limb off, the teenage Uchiha stood to his feet, hands clenched at his side.

"Just leave me alone" he stated before weakly walking off, he was lightheaded and was about to lose the contents of his stomach, as little as they were.

Watching him as he walked down the veranda and around the corner, the prodigy closed his eyes; maybe he should just butt out and leave his little Outoto alo-

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of heavy coughing and something wet splattering on the ground.

Walking over there, placing one skilled hand on the support beam at the corner of his home. Itachi watched as Sasuke was on his knees holding his stomach, stomach acid and partially digested bits of what used to be edible food went into the bushes.

Shaking his head slowly before sighing, he kneeled down next to his brother, comfortingly rubbing his back as he continued to become ill. Soon mother Uchiha heard the noise and came out, and immediately began to baby her youngest child.

Looking downwards to his left, he saw the white beast with the same worried look that he had.

"Well, you now what's wrong with him?" he asked the creature, knowing he would get no reply back, and even if the Ookami possessed the power of speech, she wouldn't have been able to tell him.

A wet washcloth on his forehead, his blankets pulled up to his neck, and a bucket right next to his bed, just-in-case. Yep, Mikoto definitely had been here.

After she was gone for good, the raven-haired teen sat up in his bed, pulling off his shirt and washcloth before he had heatstroke.

He felt abit better now, but one thing was for sure: he wasn't going to fall asleep again, not to just become prey to that nightmare which haunting his every waking.

Hearing the door get scratched at abit, he turned his head to see Ammy's paw in the door right before she slid it open, a sealed bottle of ice water in her jaws.

Accepting the kind gesture and drinking the refreshment she had brought to him, he patted a spot right next to where he laid, inviting her to have a comfty night's sleep.

Gratefully accepting, the white-furred wolf curled up right next to him, ready to stay awake throughout the night with him incase he was in need of something again.

Running long, silky fur through his fingers, he stared out his open window, feeling the cool breeze which came rarely during these summer months.

Eyes only blinking once every few moment, he stared out at the bright, round object. Feeling his eyelids become heavy, he could only wish that he could get a good night's sleep in preparation for the event which was to come tomorrow.

Academy Graduation.

He was confident that he could make it through the next day. Itachi was bound to be off on some mission, father was constantly busy doing something (not to mention he had asked Amaris for a favor in making sure he kept extra busy) and as for mother……………well he had intercepted the letter announcing the ceremony, so he was positive she wouldn't be there.

He had nothing to worry about……………………nothing at all………..

And with that he closed his eyes fully, and with his hand resting on his pets shoulder, the soon-to-be official ninja fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Staring at himself in the long mirror which hung on the wall, straightening his green graduation jacket, Sasuke Uchiha was doing all he could to control himself. Not from having stage-fright or from the anxiety and excitement form graduation, but he was feeling sick once more.

Oh that terrible dream just wouldn't leave him alone.

Behind him the girls of the class, Ino and Sakura, were peeking out the curtain at the crowd that had assembled outside, pointing out everyones parents, from their own to Choji's, it would seemed that everyone had shown up.

Grinning to himself at his plans to assure that his family wouldn't be there, he nimbly decided that leaving the green uniform unbuttoned would be best and began looking around for his wristbands, where had he put-

_Gnarl_

Looking over he saw none other than Amaris, standing there with the pieces of leather known as Sasuke's wrist-ware in her jaws.

"Ammy, what are you doing here?!" he asked in a harsh whisper, the wolf only turning to look away from him right before he heard those chilling words come from Ino's mouth.

"Hey isn't that the chief of police?"

--------------------------------------------------

He was gonna kill him.

Of course, the same person who graduated early for someone of their age would remember the exact date, time, and place of the graduation ceremony.

Itachi.

"If I make a run for it now do you think I'll be out of Kohona territory before they realize I'm gone?" the teenager mumbled to his pet who loyally stood at his side.

Resting her chin on his knee, she let out a low moaning sound, even he understood what she was asking: why?

"Because….." he answered her as he looked away, folding his arms across his chest, still plotting some sort of escape route in his mind.

"Come on Sasuke-kun its time to go be seated!" both girls said at the same time, he tried to make a dash for the door but they grabbed a hold of him anyway and pretty much ended up dragging him outside to where all the seats for the 'soon-to-be graduates section' had been set up.

Then an old man with white and red robes –with a hat to match- came up to the podium, beginning his speech.

Sensing how long the session was going to last, the black-haired boy leaned his head back abit, trying to calm down and feel the breeze on the hot summer day.

But of course having over fifty excited teenagers on all four sides of your being made it an impossible task.

Giving up, he made the mistake of closing his eyes……..

The mountain…the chains….the stench…..the fear…..then at the exact moment his dream life was ended, his eyes snapped open just as his row was being called to stand and accept their certificates for completion of the academy.

With weak legs he stood up, with Ino infront of him and Sakura in the back, the walk to the stand made him nauseous.

"For Perfect Attendance and Highest Class Scores, it is my pleasure to award Uchiha Sasuke……" the rest that came from the mans mouth was a mere blur as Sasuke felt himself being shoved up the steps to the stage, where he managed to keep his composure and the famous stone-like Uchiha face as he accepted the awards and exited the other side of the stage.

"Next is Sakura-" the old Hokage went on as the teenager practically tripped over his own feet the moment he was out of sight of the crowd, he needed to be gone from here, far away, he couldn't let anyone see him like this.

Feeling acidy liquid spill onto his hand he wiped it off before dropping the items in hand and regaining his balance. Making a run for it, he didn't know where he was running or how far he was going, he just needed to run.

Nobody saw him leave, nobody cared to see if he ever made it back to his chair after his row was finished receiving their certificates. The only other creature on the earth with the Uchiha in mind was the white Ookami who kept her distance as she kept a few yards just behind him as her master went running from some unknown enemy.

A blur of brown and green flew past the sick Uchiha's vision as he jumped from limb to limb. The only thing that made him stop was his skin snagging on a sharp, jagged branch which had been struck by lightning in a storm many years ago.

His balance being lost and his senses misdirected, he was flung face-down into the dirt, rolling over a few times over hard, sharp gravel form the momentum.

_Whimper._

Within a second his faithful old friend was at his side, encouraging him to get up by pawing his shoulder and licking the little streams of blood falling down his face from the impact with the small stones.

Blinded with dizziness and confusion he grabbed her harness with a weak hand and let her guide him up against a nearby tree.

Oh what was wrong with him? He never got sick, not like this before. He knew the dreams had some sort of connection, but what?

A large, warm, and furry body laying down next to him to keep him company, the warmth of the sun, and the exhaustion of his mind, all these things lured the Uchiha into a deep sleep, which this time, had no plague of nightmares accompanying it.


	5. Chapter 5

The teenage Uchiha woke up the next morning with his shoes off and covered in a familiar blanket.

He was at home.

How he had gotten here he didn't know, all he could tell was that he had slept in and was going to pay dearly for it. For this was the day he was supposed to meet his new sensei, and find out who the fellow members of his team were going to be.

He was not exactly thrilled about the experience, hating all things authoritive and knowing that his fellow team members, whoever they may be, will probably be snobby teenagers from fellow high-class clans who will each deem himself better than the rest.

Uchiha Sasuke had dealt with the type his entire life, and knew that since there was no way to beat them, might as well join them.

Jumping up form his floor-bound bed and throwing on some fresh clothes, hoping the acidy scent of stomach acids hadn't seared their nasty smell into his skin.

The black-haired teen took to the air, springing from rooftop to rooftop, never stopping to take a break, never allowing the heat which came from his aching lungs to cool, he darted his way through all of Kohona, until he was in the front entrance of the academy, where students and teachers were to be matched together according to skills and abilities.

Running up to a crowded piece of paper that had been thumb-tacked to the wall, Sasuke stretched up around the circle of fresh graduates, all eager to see who they were teamed up with.

"As long as I'm not paired up with ol'e scarface, I'll be perfectly happy" a scratchy, childish voice yelled aloud, looking over to see a familiar orange jumpsuit and head of blonde hair, the Uchiha wasn't too surprised to see none other than the school clown, Uzumaki Naruto.

If anyone had been relentless when it came to picking on his scars, it was indeed the possessed boy, if there was a single day out of his education at the academy where the fox-ridden outcast didn't jab some sort of poison-dipped dagger disguised as words at him, he for one wasn't aware of it.

Ignoring the brat and continuing to squint, reading the fine print, yes! There was his name, and right above it were the names of his sensei and teammates, it was-

XxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxX

Landing on a rooftop overlooking the stream which ran through their great city, the teenager closed his eyes and tried to reach a meditative state as he sat and waited for the rest of his team to arrive.

"Great" he groaned, "of all people I get paired up with _those_ two"

That's when he could hear the light tapping of claws on the surface of the building coming at him from his right. Amaris.

"Aren't you on duty?" he asked, giving her a rub between her ears.

_Gnarl_

"I'll take that as a yes" the Uchiha sighed as the wolf placed two big paws on his side, thoroughly enjoying the affection via scratching.

"Well well well, if it isn't the mutt and the wolf, please tell me the white furball is our final teammate" a prideful, arrogant male voice announced his arrival, recognizing who it was, Sasuke sighed inwardly, but acted like he hadn't heard him or wasn't even irritated by it.

Shi Hyuuga, academy straight-'A's and every female under the age of sixteen having constant crushes on him had made his originally swelled ego abnormally large.

_Grrrr._

The black-haired Uchiha could feel Amaris' throat vibrate as she deeply growled, if Shi dared place a hand on her, whether friendly or to hurt or tease, he would lose a few fingers.

"Calm down Ammy, he isn't worth it" he said quietly, making the beast sit next to him, but her jaws were ready to be put to bone-crushing use if the need arose.

A flash of chakra broke the mood as suddenly, in a poof of smoke, a man in an ANBU uniform stood before them, a smaller teenager at his side.

Kegar Sensei and the final member of their team had arrived.

Neji Hyuuga.

Kegar sensei was known for his cruel tactics and sharp tongue when it came to torturing information out of hostage enemies, but him teaching? As a sensei? The only reason, in Sasuke's mind, that they would ever consider making him teach the village's future ninja's was that he was from, much like Sasuke himself and the other two boys, a high ranking clan.

"I know the routine is for me to get to know you three and vice-versa" the young man said with a sneer, he definitely didn't want to be here.

"But to be frank, I already know you're names and really don't give a damn about anything else, now get on your feet runts, your first assignment is to run laps around the entire village borders, NOW MOVE!"

The three teens obeyed, but strictly only because they absolutely had to.

Meanwhile Amaris stood on the bridge next to this new figure, well not exactly new, she had seen him around, but she never liked being social with his type.

Smelling blood on his boot where he had used it to most probably painfully smash in the ribs of a resilient hostage, the white beast was kicked to the ground by none other than Kegar.

"Damn mutt" he muttered before turning around and going to his favorite bar, having no intention of monitoring or supervising the teens he was placed in charge of.

As she stood after he was out of sight, she instantly went back on the ground when she tried to put pressure on her front left paw.

Trying to lick away the pain but finding it did no good, the disgruntled ninja dog could only hang her head as she limped back to the police HQ where she was supposed to have been the whole time anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

**(A/N: okay my dear readers, there were some very good questions brought up by one reader that a feel should be answered for all who might be wondering: (1) sasuke isn't teamed with naruto, sakura, and kakashi because i'm pretty sure that if the massacre had never happened, he woudl have been teamed with a higher-ranking clan of temates and a sensei, the fact that they are Hyuuga's are only because i liek torturing poor Sasuke (2) and yes, Shi, Kegar, and Shika are all my OC's, inclusing Amaris and the entire Ookami clan**

**on with the story!**

It was almost midnight before the Uchiha teen finally got home, apparently twenty-five laps around the village borders wears you out because he was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

The nightmares……..they returned……..

Frostbitten mountaintop…………..the clanking of chains……….mind-numbing stench of rotting flesh…………a sacrificial ritual……….death.

But that was not what woke him up, this time, the dream went a little farther……….they howls of wild beasts………..mass explosions to his left and to his right………that's when he felt a human hand on his shoulder…………..he turns around, eyes wide at who he saw………….his dream self knows who this is…..but the real Sasuke cant see their face….…….

SPLASH

The young ninja was instantly pulled from his dreams by a bucket of ice cold water hitting him, literally, first came the water then the bucket.

"Time to wake up sleeping ugly" a regretfully familiar voice ordered him. Kegar sensei.

"What the he- how did you get into my house!?" he asked as he removed himself from his now-wet bed and stood a few feet away from his teacher.

"I don't answer stupid questions, now get dressed, the actually good ninja's in this team have already gotten up and are already training" he scoffed before leaving.

The raven-haired Uchiha was left to pick out his clothes and throw them on in a rush, that's when he noticed what time it was.

4:07 A.M.

Letting out a groan he looked over at his bewildered pet, she still sat on the end of the bed, unknown to him her paw was swelled, but she hid it under all her shaggy fur.

"Warn a guy will ya?!" he commanded before rushing out into the cold morning air, the sun wasn't even almost out and all of the torches set out for the night had already gone out, making getting halfway across town a whole lot more…………..interesting.

"Well well well, if it isn't last-nights loser……" Shi taunted as Sasuke approached the bridge.

Getting an idea, he faked accepting his 'loss' and asked a simple, but very sneaky, question.

"If I lost then who 'won'?

"Stupid question for a stupid Uchiha, I won by a mile and there is no one that can deny it" Shi boasted with a victorious smirk.

"You didn't win, _I _won" challenged Neji from the other side of the bridge.

"You wanna bet?!"

"I would but last I checked you had nothing of worth, just like the rest of your lower-ranking family in the clan"

Sasuke had to keep himself from laughter as the two bickered on until Kegar decided to show up, looks like the worlds most annoying alarm clock stopped and got himself breakfast on the way.

"Alright brats, after last week's storm there's a lot of crap and junk all over the training forests' floor, go clean it up"

"Until when?" Shi was brave enough to ask, his blue-streaked black hair waving in the bitterly cold breeze which just blew in.

"Until there isn't anymore, now MOVE IT!" the man ordered, as soon as his pupils were out of sight he sat down on the nearby bench and began to calmly eat the egg-and-ham breakfast he had ordered to go from the gourmet shop that morning, ahhh it was good to have teacher's benefits………..

X-x-x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

(Later on)

It was three o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was hot and bright, several acres of the forest floor was now spotless, and the boys were……well….being boys.

WAP

Neji came down on Shi's stick which they were using to spar as to settle the 'who won who lost' thing, using a kunai to cut off the twigs and leaves off a fallen tree limb, each boy had crafted and was now using his own.

Except for Sasuke of course, he instead kept working at the ridiculous task, his stomach rumbling.

"HAH TAKE THAT!" Shi yelled, his weapon coming down right on Neji's knuckles. Unphased, the white-eyed teen grabbed his distant-cousin's fighting tool and jerked it towards himself, his foot coming in contact with Shi's stomach, only for it to disappear, a clone.

"I am surrounded by idiots" the Uchiha muttered as he dropped the sticks, leaves, and some trash into a burn pile they had set up, taking a break and leaning against a tree after he did so.

_Groan_

Looking over he saw his white-furred-friend, a brown lunch bag in her mouth and her foot being held abnormally high off the ground.

Taking the meal from his pet he held out his hand, allowing her to place the injured limb into his hand. Pinching the end of one of her toes, she yelped and gently grabbed his wrist with her mouth, but didn't dare hurt him.

"It's broken, now how did you manage to do this, hm?" he asked as he pulled her down to lay next to him, he opened his lunch and started eating before the others noticed, speaking of which…………….

Somehow Neji now had both fake swords and was using them to choke a pinned-down Shi with.

Needless to say it was decided that the lower-ranking one of the Hyuuga clan was the winner.

"I need to get back to work Ammy, go get father or something to take care of your paw ok?" he told her before standing to his feet, adding his garbage from lunch to the burn pile.

Snorting at him as she left, Amaris pulled the one leg up tight and awkwardly limped back into town.

X.x.x.x.x.X.x.x.x.x.x.X

As she was hopping through the market district, she noticed a familiar face on the breakfast run, Shika!

His arms full of bags with breakfast for the entire department in them, he didn't even see her until she nosed him in the leg.

"Hey 'Maris, wanna help?" he asked as he struggled with his load.

_Gruff 'woof' _

Crouching down, the green-clothed man came close enough down for the white beast to take several bags in her mouth, plus a few were hitched to her harness on either side.

Working extra hard not to trip as she walked beside the officer carrying the hot coffee, they eventually made it to the station, where she was quickly relieved of her burden by hungry military-policemen. Not even staying to try and beg a few bites off of some people as she usually did, she maneuvered through the doggy-door set for her in the door to Fugaku's office.

Having to rest her head on his knee and do quite abit of whining he finally noticed she was there.

"What are you doing mutt?"

_-she holds up her injured paw-_

Taking it into his old, large hand, he slightly touched the end of her paw with the other, she squealed in pain, but only licked his hand to try and make him let go.

"Shika, get in here" he called out, letting the injured limb drop as he returned to his paperwork.

"Yes, sir?" he asked as he entered the room.

"Take the wolf to the vet and have her front paw examined"

"Yes sir" he said happily, walking Amaris to the vet was like his day was on easy-mode, besides, he liked to hang out with the creature. So he grabbed her leash (ass the veterinary office require one to do so) and hooked it to her harness, and for the first time in a very long time, she wasn't even able to pull on the leash.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been several weeks since Kegar had become the teacher of the three boys, and finally they were being assigned to their first mission: taking scrolls to the newly allied town of the village hidden in the clouds, as its name suggests it rested undisturbed at the top of a very tall and desolate cliff, surrounded by thick forest and jagged ridges.

As Sasuke packed what all he needed into his pack, an old friend came and dropped something next to his leg for him to put in along with his belongings. A bone.

"Sorry Ammy, you can't come on this one" he told her as he handed her the chewtoy back.

_Whimper_

"I can't help it, senseis' rules, I would bring you along if I could, but someone's gotta stay here and take care of mom and dad while I'm gone……"

'Then who's gonna take care of you?' said a voice out of nowhere.

Jumping to his feet and grabbing a kunai from his pouch the Uchiha darted his eyes around his room. Nothing.

The only thing to be heard was birds chirping happily outside and Amaris sliding the door open with her paw, giving him a grunting sound as she left.

After standing in the defensive position for a good five minutes he finally let his guard down and finished packing, it was time for him to get on his way, besides, it was probably just his mind playing tricks on him, great, just what he needed.

"Oh my little baby's growing up!" Mikoto squealed as she hugged him tight, he had come to pack some food for the trip (Kegar had a nasty habit of not providing for his students) and to bid farewell to his parents.

"Mother, please, I'll be back in a week or two, no need to suffocate me to keep me here" he grumbled, trying to pry her hands off of him.

"Oh I know but, this is just the start, soon I'll never see you anymore! Just like your older brother"

"Put on your glasses, I'm not him! I need to go" he grumbled as he closed his sack and headed out the door.

X.x.x.x.X.x.x.x.X

"Look who finally decided to show up" Shi teased as the teenage Uchiha arrived.

"Whatever, where's Kegar?"

"Don't know, don't care"

"Ok girls listen up" the sensei growled as he arrived, dropping a heavy crate filled with scrolls in front of the teens' feet, narrowly missing them.

"We have to get these to SkyScar village, divide the load between the three of you, this will be a long walk so I advise no one make a sound, I am in NO mood to deal with you brats."

"Sensei, SkyScar village is a four-day walk, we aren't going straight there are we?" The less gifted Hyuuga was foolhardy enough to ask.

"Maybe we will, maybe we won't, now grab some scrolls and get walking" he ordered before turning to begin the journey himself, leaving the boys to gather the papers and run ahead to catch him.

X.x.x.x.X.x.x.x.X

Amaris trudged along as she walked her usual routes. Her master was going to be gone. What if he never came back? She wanted so badly to go along with him, to keep him safe, but he ordered her to stay and guard, so she will obey.

Hearing a familiar voice she lifted her head to see none other than the master; that terrible old grump and the two other teens were there with him. Staying in the shadows she listened in and watched them leave. But as the one called Shi ran up to catch up with the others, he dropped a single scroll on the ground, not even stopping to pick it up.

Sprinting forward and sniffing the forgotten document, she came up with a sneaky idea and picked it up carefully in her jaws, turning her neck at an awkward angle to slide it into a pouch on her dog-vest, she ran forward, being sure to stay far away enough from the team so they wouldn't notice her as she stalked them all the way out of the village. And soon out of Kohona territory.

696969696969696969696969

Thankfully there was a small town on the way there, and having been walking all day and into the night, Sensei decided to stop and take lodge in the local in so he may get a good nights rest before they tackle the rest of their journey.

The catch: he left the boys to go camp in the woods.

"My feet are killing me" The Hyuuga moaned as he tied the scrolls up in a safe place in a tree before hopping down and sitting by the fire the Uchiha had made.

"Figures, that's what you get for attempting to pretend to be a ninja you tender-footed fool" Neji snapped, deeply irritated he had been sent on such a minor mission.

"Hey I wouldn't have had to walk so far if _someone_ here hadn't taken us on the wrong trail!"

"For the last time, those maps were made over fifty years ago, it wasn't my fault!" he retorted, both Hyuuga's now standing to the feet, ready to rip each others' heads off.

"Here we go….." Sasuke moaned as he leaned up against the tree, trying to get comfortable, man was he hungry, and the snacks he had brought along did nothing for him considering when Kegar found out he 'confiscated' it from him.

Staring into the flickering flames of the fire all the noise of the other teens fighting was dulled out as he slowly fell asleep.

/////////////-xXxXxXx-\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Early the next morning the tired raven-haired teen awoke before the others. Seeing a heavy mist surrounding them as it usually did this time of morning he stretched his arms, but when they came down his left hand touched something on the ground.

Looking over he saw a cloth sack lying next to him, looking around before opening it up his eyes widened at what was inside: a dead rabbit. Already skinned and prepared to be cooked.

Where it came from? He didn't know. What is poisoned or tampered with? He didn't really care.

All he cared about was to get a fire going before his 'adored' teacher came back from his night on the town.

Soon the dead beast was roasting over the newly-lit fire, the aromatic smell of meat cooking waking up his teammates. Neither of them questioned him as to where it came from, neither one wanting to look foolish. They just assumed that the Uchiha had some unexpected survival culinary skills and left it at that.

The sun had fully risen and its heat was just beginning to be felt by all of the forest and its creatures within by the time Kegar showed up, all that was left as evidence of the boys' feast was the bones which were resting in the ashes of what had been a fire.

"Get a move on girls, SkyScar is still a long ways away and at the pace we're going we'll never get there before I finally die of old age, now move it!" he yelled his apparently favorite phrase out, being sure to give one of the boys, which happened to be Sasuke, a little shove to get him moving faster with his load of scrolls.

Throughout the entire day all they did was walk, seeing the occasional traveler or two. It seemed that their mission would never end, heck they weren't even sure about if they were going to right way, sensei had bought himself some liquor in town and well, usually alcohol is supposed to give people an _opposite _personality, but all it did for sensei was make him bad to worse. Now he was grumbling and muttering to himself, all the teens with him secretly eavesdropping while acting as if they couldn't care less.

Meanwhile……

Amaris held a dead rabbit in between her paws tightly as her sharp teeth and powerful jaws tore through skin and bones like paper. Luckily enough she had found a field where there was a huge number of them flourishing in their burrows. All she had to do was sniff them out and grab them before they went underground.

Ripping a chunk of meat off, brining internal organs along with it, she contemplated on where to 'stumble' across her master and give him the forgotten roll of paper, being so far away from Kohona there was no sense in making her go back alone, as long as she could avoid the grouchy old guy she should be alright.

Deciding she had had enough of her first raw meal in years, she left a part of the carcass in the bushes where some scavenger was sure to find it later.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X

The sun was at its highest point in the sky when they were stopped dead in their tracks. A recent rock fall cut off their path to SkyScar, because of its narrow and few pathways, this meant they would have to travel around swampland just to get to another path. The snow-laden hills they would have to brave to reach their goal was a daunting task seeing that no one came prepared for the cold.

Because of his drunkenness Kegar both did not notice nor care that his students were now holding their arms trying to keep warm, having not even reached snow yet.

Infact they were still traveling around the edge of the swampland, there was hardly anything there other than dead trees, murky water, and a terrible stench that would take weeks to scrub out of their skin when they reached home.

Twenty-five miles and a warmth-less afternoon later, the teens were up to their knees in cold snow, and this was just the start, they would have to hike over this snow-laden mountain to go into a desert-like area where their destination was residing.

Thankfully they came across a small village made out of no more than a handful of huts and a few other crude buildings. But they were friendly and more than willing to give the foreigners a warm place to sleep for the night. The drawback: they all had to share a hut.

After about an hour of laying wide eyed there, squished between Neji and Shi, Kegar snoring and the Hyuuga's mumbling incoherent words and death threats in their sleep. Sasuke swiftly removed himself from there and stepped outside.

The full moon shone brightly over the glistening snow. Taking a deep breath in he leaned against the side of the one-roomed cabin and closed his eyes, his arms holding himself to try and ward off the cold.

"Young man" an elderly woman stated after he had been standing like that for a good five minutes. "It's far too cold out here, why don't you head inside?" she asked in an old, withered voice.

"Couldn't sleep, I guess I'm a night-person"

"Hm, well atleast take this, to keep you cozy" she held out a heavy leather jacket to him that had been resting on her arm.

"Ma'am I couldn't, if there are any villagers here that need it they should have it"

"Oh hush, this winter the leather trade has been very good, especially with all these wild things around, here, take it" she said again, her hand still holding it out to him.

Not wanting to be rude he gratefully took the article of clothing and slid it comfortably over his shoulders, feeling warmer already.

Before he could thank her a sound in the distance grabbed both of their attention. Wolves howling.

"Looks like the locals are starting their nightly chorus" she joked with a laugh as after one howled, another one farther away would, then another would join in until one's imagination could make out their sad song.

By the time some of the noise died down the Uchiha looked where the elderly woman had been. She was no longer there. Holding the jacket close he sighed before placing his hand on the door of the hut, stopping as he did so.

Something was behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: sorry about the wait guys, but have been super-busy with school and...stuff...enjoy

Gripping a kunai in his hand Sasuke tensed up, ready to strike at whoever was waiting behind him; turning around swiftly his weapon should have been pressed to the stalkers neck.

Only this follower was a bit too short for that……….

_Gnarl_

"Amaris!?" the Uchiha hissed, what was she doing here!? His question was answered when she set a scroll down at his feet, nosing it closer to him.

"You're supposed to be at home you mutt!" he demanded in a harsh whisper.

_Whine_

Before he could keep on reprimanding his pet, the teenager and the Ookami both heard something over the howling wind of the mountain. Was that a cry? For help?

Being trained in the way of the ninja and being the son of a military police captain both obligated the raven-haired boy to investigate. What if someone was really out there and needed his assistance?

Using chakra to run on top of the snow, Sasuke and Amaris both hiked in the direction of the noises, the wolf's superior hearing abilities coming in useful in their current situation.

Coming over a snowy hill, the pair looked on to neither see nor hear anything. But looking out into the distance, if one stared out there long enough, a tiny orange speck could be seen among the thick trees of the mountain forest.

Knowing that there was a good chance that these were just some lost travelers that needed some assistance reaching the town, Sasuke and the wolf darted out toward the woods, the cold and bitter wind nipping at them.

But no sooner had they left, a group of three pairs of eyes could be seen glaring in the direction he had went.

"We gonna' follow him?" Shi asked, holding a blanket close to his cold body.

"Can't let him get all the credit, can we?" Kegar growled before leading the Hyuuga's out into the snow, leaving the formerly crowded hut cold and empty.

X.x.x.x.x.x.X.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

The closer he got to the light, the more his ninja instincts screamed: be careful!

Creeping along in the snow, eventually laying down in it and crawling with Amaris at his side. The Uchiha kept a harsh eye on the figures around the fire, for some reason, this just didn't feel right.

Finally, he got close enough to where he could clearly see everything clearly. The sight he beheld was a terrible shock from his past indeed.

Children of all shapes, sizes, and races; chained in rows. The feet blistered and bruised from a long trek. They were all huddling together for warmth as none of them had proper clothing for the terrible trek.

Staying hidden where he was, Sasuke counted over thirty of them altogether, but it saddened him to know that the reality was that there were probably many more when their journey had begun.

He was about to turn back and head back to the small village, he would tell the proper authorities about this and stay out of it once he returned to Kohona, but those plans were ruined when the snapping of a twig could be heard not far behind him.

Looking right in his direction, he made eye contact with one of the slavedrivers. He had been seen.

"Get 'em!" the burly man yelled as he and three others made a jump for Sasuke. Four clone wolves caught them half-way, keeping them distracted long enough for both the boy and his pet to find a hiding spot.

What had made that noise?

_Thunk_

The noise could be heard as three kunai went flying into the camp, one catching an overseer square in the chest, another in a tree, while the last one came close to hitting one of the chained children who were now wide-eyed and anxious from all this.

Pulling kunais from his own pouch, Sasuke gave up his hiding place to jump down and see about releasing the chains which bound the innocent ones below him, with any luck the men would be kept distracted long enough for him to accomplish this task.

But he had no such luck as he was trying to fumble with the cold, twisted metal, none other than Shi himself had to make an appearance.

"Sasuke what the hell are you doing?!"

"Just focus on those guys you ingrate, and leave me be!" he hissed as he took his dagger and began trying to break a link in the chain with it.

"Forget them! It's six against three, let's get out of here while we still can!"

"I can't just leave them here, if you want to abandon them then be my guest!" his temper was building as the chain wouldn't break and Shi was pestering him, he knew any second those men would be back and his chances of making things right would be shattered.

Making a stupid mistake of grabbing the black-haired teens' arm, the onyx-orbed boy finally lost his cool and shoved him away. What he didn't know was that it was right in the path of a ricocheting kunai, it hit him right in his ribcage, blood instantly pouring from his mouth to the snow.

Forgetting his task of freeing the kids, Sasuke lunged over to the injured Hyuuga's side. He wasn't able to move without being in severe pain, and the blood kept filling his mouth and pouring out like a sickly waterfall.

Hearing the footfalls of several large men coming in close, he had a decision to make, stay and defend a lousy teammate who will probably die anyway, or make a run for it.

Standing to his feet and bounding off into the snow, the Uchiha made his escape from the overnight-camp, his fellow villager left behind to be finished off by the cruel taskmasters.


	9. Chapter 9

Able to hear two of the guards chasing after him, their dark leather boots were crunching loudly in the snow only a few yards behind him. Sasuke had to make a quick decision, looking over at Amaris, he formed a hand-sign.

Comin around the corner, the overseer's looked around, frustrated that they had just lost sight of the teen, if he got away, and the officials of the land found out, it would be their heads on the platter.

Knowing they could stand still for long, they each parted ways to search for their prey, after they were far out of sight, a dune of snow, or so the men had thought, twitched. A moment later it uncurled itself, revealing it to be not a lump of frozen water crystals, but a large white war-wolf, inside of its huddle was a safe and warm Uchiha teen.

Grabbing a handful of fur he pulled himself up onto her back, digging his heels into her thighs he spurred her to move it, preferably to the nearby village.

When they arrived they saw from a distance that the people were all now awake and in an uproar, slave traders? Near this town? In the middle of the riot was Kegar and Neji, but sadly no Shi.

Walking up from the east side of the group of huts, no one noticed the boy and his pet as he came up near them, but he stopped in his tracks when he got within ear-shot and heard what they were saying.

"What happened to the other boys? Are they hurt?" a frightened woman asked Kegar, suddenly everyone wanted to know the answer.

Kegar, not wanting to seem the bad sensei, made up a terrible lie to keep himself safe.

"The Hyuuga is dead, no he wasn't killed by the slavers, that Uchiha turned on us! He murdered Shi and ran! "

Everyone gasped, the men murmured , all agreeing about how they had always known that those Uchiha's were never up to any good, their wives nodding in agreement in silence, their arms clinging around their protectors elbows.

Taking a step backwards in pure shock, Sasukes eyes widened at the accusation against him…..

"I say we set out an alert for all the surrounding villages, if this rouge Uchiha is seen, we must order him to be killed-on-sight! We can't let him kill another innocent!" one of the men yelled, cheers and grunts of agreement followed from the group.

His heart beating out of his chest, the black-haired boy did what his mind and instincts told him to.

Run.

Taking long leaps to get away from the mountainside village, the Uchiha found himself soon having to cling to Amaris' shoulder-fur, as he could no longer see where he was going through all this blinding white snow.

Had he been properly dressed and prepared, he could have lasted so much longer, but because of the cruelty of his frugal sensei, all the boy could do was hold on to his wolf with one hand and cling the jacket to his body with the other.

The minutes seemed to drag on for hours, hey couldn't see anything before them or behind them as the storm was blinding white, for all they knew they could go falling over a cliff and meet their end, only their instincts and maybe the guiding hand of a higher power kept them safe.

To try and be safe the canine tried to keep to the walls of the mountain, her leaning shoulder eventually finding a break in its mighty barriers. They had found a cave.

Weary paws trudged in on the cold, hard ground, ice and skeletons lined the walls and floor as they had not been the only lost travelers seeking shelter. Sasuke slid off her back before Amaris released her full-size jutsu and shrunk back to her normal size, the claws of her paws clicking against the stone floor.

Seeing that the cave droned on deep into the frost-bitten giant, the Uchiha settled for sitting there where he stood for the night, if he explored the caverns he might become lost, if he went into the storm he faced sure death. Either way the situation looked bleak to the boy and his pet.

Sitting down and wrapping his arms around his legs to stay warm, they had no kindling to make a fire, with any luck the clawed, dark hand of hypothermia wouldn't grip either of them during the night. A furry figure nosed her way behind him, spending an amount of chakra to retransform back to a large size, serving as a pillow for her master, her overly bushy tail made an excellent blanket of sorts.

Surrounded by white the young adult eventually lulled himself into a half-sleep, meaning he was resting his body and mind, but should anything happen, he would be awake and alert within a blink of an eye.

--

The wind howled and screamed louder than any relative of Amaris had ever been able to manage, its ice-tipped claws scratched and lunged at the land, beating against the village and the mountain, its fangs piercing the surrounding forest and all that lived in it.

Sasuke awoke to a low rumbling growl. His body was still engulfed by a sea of fur, he fought to move as his body rejected the idea, screaming that the moment he escaped the security of his heated position, the terrible enemy known as the cold would overtake him.

He stood regardless and saw what was angering his minion. A large, angry black bear had found refuge in this cage, now both sides were staring the other down, seeing its next meal in hand. The Uchiha tried to grip his pets neck-fur to stop her, but she ignored him as her teeth were fully bared, eyes wide as her paws slowly moved forward, abandoning him to circle her prey.

With a roar the bear lunged, his powerful paws met deep fur as they both sunk their claws and jaws into each others' flesh, their roaring and yelping echoing throughout the deep nooks and holes of the cave. Without thinking, Sasuke wanted only to protect his seemingly only friend in the world, he took his kunai and searched for an opening as both large beasts tumbled in battle.

He foolishly stabbed for the back, but the bears thick hide only allowed the dagger part-way entry, the sting of pain only angering the creature, making its assault on the wolf that much more intense.

The white wolf tried to find an opening to the weakest point of any animal: its neck. In a moment of weakness the monster rammed her over, his mighty clawed paws pushing her away into a wall with much force. The shaking of the walls making the icicles break loose and fall, shattering on impact against the hard floor.

Turning its attention to the boy, it raised its paw, one slash at the weakened, tired Uchiha would be all that it would take to kill him, he didn't have the strength to run or dodge, his breath coming out in puffs of white smoke.

Seeing the harm about to occur to her leader, Ammy released and went into her smaller form, using the last of her chakra to summon in six more wolves, taking no time they lunged into the beast from all sides. Amaris herself jumping up and sinking her teeth into its raised paw.

The black-furred creature stumbled backwards, the extra weight on its back over-balancing it. Seeing his opportunity Sasuke took his last kunai and jumped forward, throwing himself as the beasts' front, the weapon hitting its target, sinking deep into its chest.

The bear screamed out in pain, blood gushing everywhere, from its pelt, its chest, even out its opened mouth. It sunk back down to the ground, the many wolves still clinging on, they wouldn't release until it was dead. Its cries for pity, for mercy, for help continued, so loud more sharp knives of ice fell from the roof of the cave, the noise leading outside, echoing across the white plains of the mountainside.

Small amount of snow shifted everywhere, becoming unstable, shaky, and overall dangerous.

(A/N: Sorry for wait and shortness, I know everyone uses this for an excuse but i really have been busy, hopefully updates will come faster in the future, who knows, andway, thank you for your patience and i hope you enjoyed it)


	10. Chapter 10

**A/n: sorry for the delays in my updates, though only getting two reviews from my last chapter was dissapointing, but whatever, as long as one person likes this story, it will go on **

Sasuke and Amaris looked from side to side frantically as the iced walls around them began to shake

Sasuke and Amaris looked from side to side frantically as the iced walls around them began to shake. Looking toward the exit they both ran towards it, each second of their dash seemed to take an eternity to pass. But their efforts were in vain as right as the Uchiha teen reached the cave's opening, a pair of fanged jaws grabbed him from behind and pulled him back, a Pile of hard snow sitting write where he had been standing milliseconds before.

They were trapped.

Taking a moment to recover the boy grabbed a hold of his companions shoulder fur, using it to pull himself off the cold and slippery stone floor. Looking around he saw that a lot of the ice crystals hanging from the ceiling had fallen and shattered. And their former enemy, the bear, had perished in those moments from bleeding out. But there was one thing that puzzled Sasuke, if the way outside, the supposive only source of light had been completely and hopelessly blocked off, how was there still light? How could he see? He was yet to obtain the clans blood trait of the sharinghan, but even then it wouldn't allow him to see in the dark. Would it?

Holding on to his wolf for support the pair walked forward into the great unknown of the cave, the snake-like tunnels winding and turning every which way. The only sounds to be heard was the patting of his light feet, the clicking of Amaris' claws on the ground, the drip of water crystals melting, their small droplets of liquid falling to the ground. But there was something else to be heard, it sounded like a deep, rushing wind. The farther into the tunnels they went to louder this low murmur became.

Finally, after what was well over an hour of blindly walking into uncharted mountain, they came to an end to their path. It was an end to their tunnel, it was a thick layer of pure ice, and on its other side was light, its light-blue glow shining through, tinting the skin of the two friends trapped behind it.

The teen rest his hand on the ice wall, it had formed naturally, the slow melting of the ice crystals during the summer months had done this, slowly building farther and farther until it was a solid blockade. They both very well knew this was their only way out, their only chance to escape unless they wished to face the many yard deep pile of frozen water droplets that awaited them at the former entrance.

Taking a step back, he decided to let Amaris deal with this one, a fireball jutsu here in such a closed space could cause certain disaster. Slowly the white beast formed a small ball of fire between her jaws, she let it slowly build up, the last thing either of them needed was a big explosion that would cause another avalanche.

Slowly she moved the ball of flames near the ice, its heat slowly creating a crater in the ice-made door. The melted water dripping down to the floor. Gradually the small fire made a hole in the wall, which soon became large enough for both of them to crawl under. Letting the dog go first, hen placing his pack on the other side, he then himself went through, when he stood on the other side, a gasp escaped his lips as his eyes widened in awe at the site around them.

A thin wall of ice, that's what made up the entire side of the mountain. It let the suns light shine through, granting them full vision, but still kept them trapped inside.

What could have done this? How could such a phenomenon happen? That's when he noticed something, closing his eyes he focused his senses on his hearing. The deep rumbling noise form before had become much louder, and to add to the mystery, he could feel the strands of his black hair moving from side to side as air was slowly being sucked in, and pushed out, in such a repetitive manner that it only reminded him of one thing.

Looking over the ledge on which he and his pet stood, he quickly backed up into a wall in fear of disturbing _it._

_It_ was a giant cat-like creature. Its paw alone was larger than the Uchiha's body's height. Its fur glistened white. He did not know what this monster exactly was, but what he did know was that they were trapped in its den, and one false move would awake it.

Looking back into the dark tunnel, he had a decision to make, either risk waking it and face most probable death or try and dig out of a snow bank. Gulping down a wad of spit to wet his throat, slowly he rest his hand against the icy wall, his foot searching for a spot to rest in order to make its way down.

X-x-x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x-x-X

By this time the remaining member of the team and Kegar had arrived at SkyScar, they delivered their scrolls as ordered and were gathering supplies for the trip back. Neji had a stern face on to mask his guilt, he very well knew that the Uchiha brat was innocent, but to speak against his sensei was a most dishonorable action, one that the rest of his clan would frown upon, no matter what the moral code was.

Tightening up a strap on his pack, he couldn't help but be foolishly curious enough to ask his currently tipsy teacher.

"How do you plan on telling them? The Hyuuga and the Uchiha will not react kindly to knowing that young members of their families did not return home" he questioned, and eye watching the green-vested man as he stood idly behind, leaning casually against the wall as the wooden wind chimes knocked into each other.

Ironically enough, Kegar, the trusted sensei, the 'wise' teacher, the man who was supposed to have all the answers for his students, had none.

X-x-x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Having to pause to catch his breath between each step, the raven-haired boy slowly climbed down the wall. Thanking God for his ninja skills more than anything at that moment. Amaris was slowly making her way behind him.

Eventually, with bloody fingers which no longer possessed nails from having to grip so harshly on the rocky wall, he made it to the bottom, the snow covering his ankles fully.

Any allergy one ever had would have acted up right then. Reaching into his pack Sasuke took out a black cloth, wrapping it around his face as the strong odor and dandruff had been far too much for his nose.

Using a snow-walking jutsu they both walked on top of the thick layer of snow at the bottom. From what the Uchiha could tell, this creature, most probably much more than an earthly beast, had made the dome of ice as a way to hide itself. Having no time nor want to sit and stare at it, he scanned the surrounding walls for anything, an opening of any sort that might just lead him to the outside world.

Still feeling a strong wind moving him back and forth as the enormous feline breathed sleepily, he did have a nagging fear in the back of his mind that this thing could easily pick up his scent, but hopefully it wouldn't disturb its slumber. Finally he and Ammy reached the other side of the enclosure, they would have to melt a hole into the wall in order to obtain sweet freedom.

As his canine friend began her work on the wall, the boy couldn't control his curiosity enough to keep himself from looking over at the beast, even daring to venture a few steps closer to get a better look at it. When he got closer he saw that the creature wasn't totally white, there were dots of a dull blue tinting its coat, but more than that, its underbelly was a deep, dark red color…..wait a minute…..that wasn't natural fur…….

Squinting he could see the reason the monster had built this excellent hiding spot, so that it could recover. It apparently had been attacked, but what great beast would be either brave or stupid enough to even attempt such a feat?

He had no time to sit and contemplate about this as his wolf had completed the hole in the wall.

Climbing through it, the cold hit him like a fist hitting a goldfish, it knocked more than the wind out of him as he had been slightly warmed by the beasts' natural body temperature radiating around the room.

Climbing out, they could see a nearby lightly-snowed green forest, making a dash for it, they soon without harm or injury made it to the protective covering of the foliage.

But any thoughts or hope of safety or security were all in vain and utterly pointless, as moment after reaching their cover, a deafening noise filled the air, turning around the Uchiha and his friend both saw a giant fire-ball streak through the sky, but it had not come from the heavens.

The bright red light reflected in the boy's eyes as he watched it make an arc through the sky, over the forest, and land directly into the wall of ice that had been protecting and hiding the great beast, smashing it into millions of jagged pieces that outnumbered the stars in the skies.

A shrill, unearthly scream filled the evening air as the beast leaped from its former lair. For some reason, Sasuke had figured it out just what had come after the cat, it was the most deadly predator of all: man.

Suddenly, scores of armored and armed men leaped out of the forest, some on foot, other riding on many beasts, from mongrel dogs to rare tigers, the pair had to drop to the ground to avoid being trampeled.

Instantly a ring of attackers surrounded the injured beast, firing arrows, sending off powerful chakra-based attacks, and trying to injure the vital tendons in the back of its legs with sharp swords and daggers.

Slowly regaining his footing, Sasuke and Amaris his behind trees as they watched.

Then, a man dressed in regal leather and wearing a horned skull on his head came out, the beast of burden beneath him was a mountain lion, bigger than a horse, its fangs longer than the palm of a mans hand.

Removing an crossbow from his side, and pulling the thick bolt out of a pack on his shoulder, he loaded the weapon, and steadily gazing at his target, correcting his aim, he fired the weapon. The giant beast reared in agony, exposing its vulnerable underbelly to their merciless spears and arrows, the fiery attacks burning its abdomen as it screamed in pain, the arrow his hit it directly in the eye, and now in slow and painful death, it was tortured as it fell to the ground, the men swarming all over it, hacking into it with their maces and axes.

Something about this cheap kill did not seem right to the Uchiha, turning he made his way to leave, only to walk straight into a large body. Looking up, the grim-faced man wearing the skull of a beast was standing right in front of him. He had been caught, but by who? Or a better question: what?


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: ** Hello everyone, sorry I've been dead for awhile, my computer crashed and I am jsut now figuring out how to do documents on the shared computer a the clubhouse so sorry for it and hope you all are still here to read it

Sasuke looked up at the large man, his dark eyes stared down at him, looking him over, as if seeing just what he was...

"Why are you out here all alone boy?" He asked, his voice demanded and acheived authority, and despite his natural tendecies to not only be a prideful uchiha and a pushy teenager, he gave up all he had to hide.

"I've been accused of my partner's murder and have lost my way out here, who are you?" he asked, hvaing to hold Amaris' collar bakc to keep her from sniffing the stranger out.

"I'm Natin, Master over Beasts, and ruler over these lands, normally I would feed anyone who dared tresspass on my property to my hounds, but for an Uchiha and an Ookami, I'll make a special acception..."

Both sasuke and Ammy were dumbfounded, how did he know? they both gave each other a glance, neither of them wanted anything more to do with this creepy character.

"I've spent my entire life studying and analyzing creatures, both of the beast and human kind, you are Uchiha, this I know because of your telltale build and structure, plus your sharinghan is activated..." he said with a grin, the teenager blinked, he hadnt told hsi body to do the special ability, perhaps it was a natural reaction?

"And you, Curious one are either a very smart Ookami or one extremely mentally challenged mutt, any normal beast would have torn away from he that he is loyal to in order to investigate a newcomer, but no matter, both of you are far from home, may I welcome you into my hospitality? I'm sure there is much we can gain from each other..." Natin had a point, someone who was this intellectual would certainly help him find some way to clear his name...

"We'll accept your offer master Natin, but I have to ask, what is that thing and why did you kill it?" Sasuke inquired, looking towards the giant cat beast.

"I am the hunter, and it was my prey, I have need of it"

"Its meat and fur?"

"Not quite my Uchiha friend..." Natin smirked and Amaris almost choked when they saw all he had brutally murdered it for, his men having tid ropes around its dismembered head, forcing the beasts of burden to pull it throug hthe snow.

"It woudl make quite the impressive trophy no?" The hunter unloaded hsi crossbow and placed it back in its place on his saddle.

"Rema, Karn, Bring a steed for our new guests" He called to his two nearest men who scrambled to do as their lord bid them.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Kohona

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

"I saw it with my own eyes sir, that Sasuke was always bad news, he killed his own teammate and let that demon with fangs of his tear him apart, I'm sorry but there was no body" Kegar gave hsi report to lord Hokage, thsi was the best story he could concoct on his journey back to Kohona with Neji.

"Ony Hyuuga lost and one Uchiha gone rouge? You must understand my trouble gripping this report Kegar" the Third said, his face downcast.

"It is a sad day for both clans, but I suppose theres nothign to be done about it"

"Alright then, send out an order to every fighter in Kohona, Uchiha Sasuke has gone rouge, and if seen should be ...killed on sight" he had a hard time finishing it, soemthign here didnt seem right, but what other choice did he have?

"Kegar, as the boys' sensei it will be your responsibility to tell thier fmailies" he informed him as he left the room, he needed soem time to ponder on these events...

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Natins Fortress

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

The trip was a long, bitterly cold one, but once they got there they were treated as if they were royal guests of some sort, servants led them to very fine rooms, it was no doubt that this Natin person was a very wealthy and well-off man.

_Whine..._

Ammy rest her head on hsi knee, followed by her oversized paw, somethign here wasnt quite right, she coudl sense it...

"What choice did we have? I dont liek it either but I'll find some way out of it" he reassured her as he rubbed behind her ear, then the heavy door opened, revealing a servant.

"Master Natin has requested your presence in the feasting chambers for dinner" she said with a slight bow.

"Alright, come on Ammy-" he started to say as he stood to hsi feet.

"I'm sorry but he made it quite clear that the wolf was not to accompany you, but we are to feed her here instead"

"Stay here, I'll be back" he told hsi partner before following the servant woman, leaving his white-furred friend all alone in the stone room.

"My apologies for not allowing your little friend to come, but I didnt beleive my hounds would react well to its presence, you understand I'm sure..." the lord of the manor said, biting into a leg of meat.

this room was well decorated, along with being huge it had bonfires all alogn the walls, as well as weapons and pelts, along with the recently added giant cat head, which hung over the table by four chains all secured int othe four courners of the tall ceiling. but wha caught Sasuke's attneton the most was the huge cages that stretched all along the room, wha tthey held inside he couldnt tell, and for some reason, didnt want to find out.

Kohona Uchiha district

As expected, the Uchiha's didnt take well to the news that thier child had betrayed not only his team but his village, they al lrefused to beelive such a thign could occur, all trying to find somehow, someway he wouldnt have done it...when Itachi stood behind the corner as Kegar told hsi mother and Father the devastating news, a little red flag went up, he knew his otouto, and this...thsi wa simpossible for him...he walked away as his mother's knees fell otu from under her, her tears staining the wooden floor as he slipped into his room to contemplate this...this most confusing and unlikely news...

Natin's Fortress

It was well past midnight when the feast was finally over, Natin had told Sasuke many stories and tales about huge beasts and monsters, especially about Carnadin, which was the name of the beast e had witnessed being killed that day, the creature was the last of its kind, and many of hundreds of years old, though Sasuke felt ti was unfair for him to kill it for hsi own glory, he didnt dare voice his opinions on the matter, but now he was coming to his room and wanted nothing more than to fall into the bed of furs and sleep off all his troubles...but when he did, he found that somethign was amiss...Ammy was gone...and there was blood staining the floor...


	12. Chapter 12

The small spot on the floor would have gone unnoticed if he hadnt been looking for some sort of clue as to hsi friends wereabouts, but other than the miniscule stain he foudn nothing else. immediately he debated between going to Natin himself...but that coudl mean trouble, for all he knew Ammy was wandering the halls in search of new sights and smells, but if she had been taken...

Using his stealthing skill he peered otu the door, and using the shaows of the halls as hsi safety net he crept around in search of his pet.

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

Kohona

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

Itachi Uchiha slid his white mask over his face, his sharptened blade at his side. Mikoto still refused to be comforted, and Father was doing all he could to pretend that Sasuke had never existed, as was what had to be done to keep honor among the clan.

Escaping the district was child's play, and reaching the border of kohona, where the guards were at thier weakest was no hassle for the skilled ninja, he stared up at the obstacle in his way, ready to make a move that would risk his very life.

"Going to go confirm as to where your fellow Uchiha is?" an elders voice said from behind, it wa snone other than the Third.

"I refuse to beelive a word that a drunken Hyuuga says about my kin, I am sorry lord Hokage, but I must do this"

"I understand completely, and will cover for you, you have my permission to go, but I'm afraid that even if all is not lost, and you do find Sasuke, he may never set foot in Kohona again" the old man said solemly as he turned to leave, the uchiha doign the same.

With that the Ambu Black Ops. leader leaped over the wall and soundly left the safety of his hometown.

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

Natin's Fortress

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

He had been hiding in shadows and scaling walls for the past two hours, and still no sign of Amaris, but he did find a way to a window which overlooked the outside, and what he saw left him wide-eyed and horrified. that symbol...he had had nightmares of it since he was but a child, the same crest that Natin and his followers bore on thier flags and belongings, was the same to that of the slavetraders!

His head rest agaisnt the wall, the contents of hsi stomach findign their way out fo his mouth...oh what had he gotten into? a wave of dizziness overtook him, he could hear the voices of a passing patrol, who unfortunately both found and captured the teen.

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

Several hours later

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

When Sasuke awoke, he found himself in chains, his arms spread out above him, hsi feet the same, so this was the trap, and just like all those years ago, he was helpless and at the hands of a slave-lord...

"I shoudl have listened to the elders when they told me that dealing with Uchiha's would lead to nothing but trouble" a female voice echoed i nthe dungeon, snapping Sasuke to full alertness.

"Who's there?!" he asked into the darkness, thats when eh saw soemthign move in the corner, it was Amaris, making herself more comfortable with her head muzzled and feet shackled.

"Great, now I'm hallucinating, this jsut keeps getting better and better" he muttered to himself.

Before the voice coudl respond there was a noise at the bars, it seemed that Natin himself had come to pay them a visit.

"Ahh, my guests have awaken frm thier little naps, fresh and rejuvenated I'm sure?" he asked with a sadistic grin.

"What the hell do you want us for bastard!" Sasuke demanded to know as he pulled on the shackles.

"That, my little Uchiha frend, is for me to know and for you to die trying to find out, now if you dont mind I dont have much time to chat, you see, me and my friends have alittle...event we must be going to, and I jsut must brign the mutt along, you understand I'm sure" this he said as one fo hsi men stepped toward Ammy, her teeth bared but couldnt strike beyond the metal.

"What for!? what are you goign to do to her!?" He yelled at them, he wanted nothing more than to blast that smile off hsi face...

"Ah, well I had might aswell tell you, seems only fair doesnt it? you see, I'm the master huntsman" He gloated, hsi hand over hsi chest.

"I have taken down beasts you have never seen nor heard of before, from the huge and legendary to the mythological gods, thier heads all hang as trophies of my superiority over them, but never once have I hunt a beast that was a man, and because you so willingly played right into my hand I will have that most epic opportunity..." now Sasuke was confused...a beast that was a man...what?

"Whats this? is it possible that the almighty Uchiha, the pride and glory of the land of flames didnt know that his lowly partner's true form and identity? how pathetic" he laughed right into the teens face, adding only anger to his confusion.

"Well then, its only my pleasure to clear your mind, my friend" he said before he pushed his man otu of the way, his hand glowing a sickly green color he reached right for Amaris.

With a tight grip he held her up by the fur of her throat, the glow grew brighter as she snarled and struggled until Sasuke's eyes burned from the brightness, he had to turn away, but when he recovered and looked back at his captor, his jaw dropped as he saw in his outstretched hand was the very friend he had lost all those years ago...

"Too bad there's no time to chat, me and your friend here have places to be" Natin tossed Ammy's naked human body at his nearby henchman who more than readily carried her out, withotu being able to get a word in the raven haired boy was soon left all alone, the last few moment of hsi life replaying over and over again in hsi mind...

Beasts' Last Stand..

Even the name of this place sent chills up Ammy's spine, off course that aslo coudl; have been the fact that she was naked and bare infront of over a hundred bloodthirsty men who were sharpening thier blades and taunting thier bows.

"Now you Ookami bh, let me make sure you know what you are to do here, you see this grand forest ifnront of you?" Natin asked, his hand gesturing out at the heavily thick and snowy land filled with trees before him.

"This is my land, oh I have mad emany great captures here I assure you, and if things go my way, which they will, I'll have another trophy to add to my collection"

"What do you want from me you sick mongrel?" her female voice asked, she suprised herself even that she coud lremember how to talk, it had been so long since she had done so freely.

"I am the hunter, you are the prey, you **are ** going to run, run as fast and as far as your furry feet will take you, give chase, elude me, avoid me, anythign to spare your life, because my canine friend, I and my men intend to kill you, but because I'm a good sport I will give you somewhat of a fighting chance and give you till this time tomorrow to try and escape my lands" he said thsi all as if it were no big deal, like hunting down and slaughtering humans was no moral problem to him.

"Alright huntsman, I'll play along with your sick game, but tell me this one thing first, what of the Uchiha? what will you do with him?" she asked, growling through her teeth as an old habit.

"I woudl tell you, but I dont enjoy wasting my breath on those who soon wont have any, now run Ooakmi, run away and never look back!" he yelled at her as he released her shackled, giving her a kick as she instantly transformed back into her wolfish form and ran into the forest, the scres of hutners giving up cheers as she made her way.

"Yoten, Go tell my sorcerors to prepare for the ceremony, and keep the Uchiha alive and well, understood?, I'll return with my prize within the next few moons" Natin ordered his second-in-command before he left to go prepare his mount for the hunt.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hello again everyone, updates shoudl be coming more often, sorry for the shortness but hey, it's somethign right?**

The Uchiha spent hours in that dungeon, cold and alone as the days of that nightmare during his childhood. the occasional patrol passed by but they were the last beings he wished to gave as company at a time such as this.

His pet, his partner, his only _friend_ was not whom she had appeared to be, it only made sense now, but why? Why didn't she tell him about her secret? If anyone could have been trusted it was himself. What's more is why did she cover up her identity? These many questions plauged his young mind, but it only led him donw a twisted path of frustration because he knew that he would never see her again. Never get a chance to demand to know the answers, to know the truth. But anger and betrayal were not the most impending emotions flooding his body and soul, it was sadness, because as mentioned before, his pet, his partner, his _friend_ was gone.

Sasuke was jerked from his thought train as footsteps stopped right infront of the steel bars of his cell. three robed men stared down thier noses at him. A troop of castle guards stood behind them incase anything went amiss, but it was the snarling beasts at thier sides which caught his atention.

they looked like some sick breed of diseased dog. Thier fur coats were coarse and ragged, patches of hair and skin were missing in some spots. The beasts' heavy breathing echoed throughout the stone halls of the dungeon, they knew a potential meal when they saw one.

"On your feet Uchiha, we have been given orders for preparation by the mighty huntsman" said one of these bald old crones, several of his teeth missing from his mouth.

"And do not attempt to escape prisoner, these are well-trained hounds at our sides, specially bred and made for the chasing and painful termination of you and your ninja brethren" he added as he unlocked the bars, three gaurds rushing in to secure his hands behind his back, his wrists being chained to the opposite elbow. It was quite obvious they weren't taking any chances of losing him.

**X.x.x.x.x.x.X.x.x.x.x.x.X**

**Beasts' Last Stand**

**X.x.x.x.x.x.X.x.x.x.x.x.X**

A lone white wolf sprinted atop the heavily snowed ground. She had developed blisters on her legs and paws from running herself so ragged. Allwell, she had already experienced death once, how awful could another time around be? of course, this was her last chance, perhaps eternal death would be better than this life, with any hope The Maker would accept her soul into the Heavens when she went. All she wanted now was to make sure that her owner got all the extra time he could. The Hunter meant trouble, for both herself and Sasuke.

Slowing her run down from a sprint to a slow walk she came to a stop under a low tree, taking time to rest herself before going father. She knew that there was no escape, this place was a giant cage, she had found the borders hours ago, now her goal was to make a long and twisted path to give the sadistic barbarians at the castle a run for thier money when they tracked her.

Looking up throught the thick leaves and branches of her shelter, she saw the evening moon up in the pale blue sky. Only one or two hours before nightfall, and she could only wonder what other creatures inhabited this enclosure.

Amaris had a duty to the Uchiha, and that was to protect him, she had given herself that job so many years ago when she saw him chained inside the barn of the slavers. Now he was shackled in the dungeons of a crazed overmaster. There were seveal ways she could go about ending her life in an honorable way, she could head back to the castle and try to free him herself, she could try and sneek out, attack the fence or whatnot, of course, there was always that other option...but would her family do it?

Stepping out into the open Ammy looked up into the sky. Taking several deep breaths she stood in the cold for a few moments more before throwing her furry head back and letting out a long wail of a howl.To man this was a call to other nearby wolves, but to the Ookami, this was a cry for help which would reach across the world.

X.x.x.x.x.x.X.x.x.x.x.x.X

Sasuke stood stark naked chained between two pillars in the candle-lit room. After being brought here by those miserable old bats he was stripped of his clothing and gear and was exposed to five women coming in and hurridly scrubbing him down with a thick soapy water mix. Now all around him, placed in a perfect circle were twelve iron stands with metal bowls at the top. The thick stench of incense consumed him, and although it fully cleared and opened hsi sinuses it was making him unbearable light-headed.

His skin still tingling from the very unusual bath, more young women entered the room after what seemed like hours, this timed armed with baggy, white clothing.

He did not say anything to any of them, they all had this sad, hopeless look in thier eyes. He determined that not only were they doing this work against thier will, but he obviously was not the first person they had washed and clothed. It only stirred hsi curiosity as to what was really going on here.

X.x.x.x.x.X.x.x.x.x.X

Itachi held a kunai in his left hand as he used it to part the leaves of the evergreen tree he was perched in. this place was huge. Walls secured it on every side, gaurds everywhere, and a steady line of peasant and caravans entering through the front gates. Something was about to happen here, that much he could see, but just what puzzled him.

It was when he was memorizing the times and locations of the guards patrols that the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, a sick, low gnarling noise coming from behind. Sharighan flared he looked over his shoulder slightly to see three skinny, bony dogs crouched on the branches of the tree behind him, thier hackles standing up straight as if in attention. He swiftly threw the kunai, hitting one in the chest dead-on, its cries ringing out as it fell from the branch to the ground. His attack then jumping quickly away to escape gave the monsters the go-ahead to give chase. They were starving and this intruder would make a sufficient dinner.

The older Uchiha jumped briskly from limb to limb, but his canine pusuers still were at his ankles, this was ridiculous! He reached for another kunai and made a twist in mid-air and threw it at the mutt to his right. The beast incredibly somehow dodged it and snarled as its adrenaline was on full-charge. In a suprise move Itachi suddenly stopped on a thick limb of an overgrown forst tree and within the beat of a heart had his katana drawn in a defensive stand, only a foot away from his chest he held it sideways with both hands on the hilt. The demon dog he had missed only a moment ago had lunged at him and had not predicted the attack, hitting the blade full-on it sliced and gutted the tortured beast, the two peices of its carcass falling many yards to the ground.

At the same time more blood was being shed at the final creature latched its jaws around the Uchiha's ankle, skin and flesh being torn away, teeth marks would be left in the bone for sure.

With a swift reaction Itachi brought the katana down on the mongrels' bony spine, but the beast held on tight, forcing them both to lose thier balance and fall from the branch.

As they fell the long-haired human quickly snatched a kunai front he pouch at his belt and with all his strength he could summon he thrust it into the skull of the rabid canine, this time it let go.

the human landed on the ground gracefully on his feet, the attacking mutant was not so lucky as it hit the ground with the snapping of its bones. As it no longer posed a threat to him Itachi limped as he caught his bearings. Those blasted insufferable beasts had chased him into some unknown area of the forest, and with night falling he had little choice but to make a small camp and treat his injuries as there was nothign he could do further to help his otouto on this day.


	14. Chapter 14

Sasuke ws seated on the stone ground, his hands chained in a secure style, there was nothing he could do, none of his trianign that could help him, he was hopeless.

On either side of him were the giant fire pyre's, every half-hour or so he would watch one of the skimly-dressed slave-girls pour in a mixture of herbs and leaves, the smoke the rose up along with hte overpowering smell would more than often nearly knock her out cold.

he did not know what was to become of him, but he had an idea that he might not live to see his family ever again...

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Beasts' last stand

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Amaris had found a shallow den to stay in overnight as there was frozen ice between her toes, crossing that river had been dangerous but necessary. Now she could only hope that her constant licking had melted most of the painful stuff and would allow her to keep up her pace. the huntsman had promised a chase and she had every intention to give him one.

Running in the direction of the rising sun, Ammy could only pray to her God that her family had heard her plea for help.

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

Somewhere in this god-forsaken forest...

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

Itachi finished badaging his torn ankle, it was only grace or luck that that mutant didnt tear his whoel foot off, there was no doubt in hsi mind that it did possess the power to...

The only bearings he could find were that he was a few miles from the fort, the fort which imprisoned his little brother...well..not so little anymore...Sasuke was growing up to become a fine young ninja...and he was missing it...of course, that wouldnt matter if he was dead, which was a nightmare that coudl come true for the elder Uchiha if he didnt mak it in time...

Taking another drink from his canteen he poured what little that remained on his sword to clean off little smudges of caked-on dog blood from the previous nights battle. Using a torn peice of his shirt he wiped it clean until its sickening shine returned, the excess water having poured off on the ground to the side where some dirt had been showing despite the snow, it semeed that the treetops were so thick with branches and leaves that the frozen rain had not made it through...

Standing to try out his injured joint, he found that though it caused some pain, he could manage to function with it. Reaching down to take hold of his pack, he noticed something...the puddle of water on the ground...it was vibrating as if the earth was shaking...it was as if something...or many things...were coming...the long-haired adult only had time to draw his katana before a giant, furred beast burst from the nearby foilage, bringing many friends with him.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

The Dining Chambers

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

After hours of being chained up, Sasuke had found out a few things about his surroundings...for one thing, he hadnt been the first visitor in this predicament, and chances were he wouldnt be the last, the giant snowtigers' head that was hanging from the ceiling had not been drained of all the blood..thus explaining the mess on the banqueting tables under it...not to mention the stench which he only seemed to be siffering from, and last but not least, those huge cages that ran alongside the entire length of the side walls of this rectangular room had inhabitants...of the human variety...they had snow-white skin and were very good climbers, but he coudl see the pain and hunger in thier eyes, having been treated like beasts for so long, they seemed to have began acting like it.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Beasts' Last Stand

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Finally she had found the eastern wall...great...now to turn in another direction and keep running some more, would this ever end? Even though she knew the answer, she chose to push it to the back of her mind and think of it no more as her paws took her as quickly as they could.

"Men, today we go after a specialty, I offer fifteen female slaves to the man who kills her, if you choose to bring it in alive, you can keep her aswell!" thier horned leaer kicked his horse sharply with his spurred leather boots, making ti rear into the air in pain to add to the moment before removing his battle-horn, a small instrument carved from the precious horn of a rare breed of oxen many oceans away. putting his thin lips to it the sound sang out, signaling his men that the grand hunt had begun.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Forest

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

" I'm sorry if our entry frightened you my boy, we were trying to hurry, one of our own iss in trouble, I'd suspect you'd know something of it?" Ika asked as he stood in his human form beside Itachi as his ankle received proper medical care from the clan healer.

"If there is one thing about my brother that I do know, it is that he would go nowhere without his pet, which in my guess is who called for the help" he answered witha wince as some chemical concotion was poured over the bloody mess.

"So, Itachi of the Uchiha clan, will you assist me and my family in rescuing both your brother and my daughter?" the wolf-mans hand was held out, as if offering help.

"I'll assist where I can Lord Ookami" he responded, taking the large hand in his, now it was time to plot the attack, and with a blend of both ookami and Uchiha minds in the mix, the plan was bound to not only contain sheer cunning but also brute strength.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Beasts' Last Stand

four hours later

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

It had been hours since she heard that horn blow, the barking of attack dogs and the thundering of hooves had deafened her ears for much too long, her strength was waning as her stamina faded.

The noise only seemed to be getting closer and closer to her, if she had breath for another hour on this earth, she'd be suprised, if she survived this ordeal she swore she would go to her birthplace and join the temple, maybe as a preistess...or a bodygaurd.

It was when her mind was distracted with these thoughts that an arrow went flying past her head, another barely missing her back paw. They had caught up with her.

Dashing through the twisted maze of the forest trees, suddenly her body went into shock as horrid pain raored through her being! She had stepped ina toothed-trap, its killer clamp locked around her front leg.

So much went through her mind, how this was the end...how she'd never see her friends, her master's family ever again, her vision faded and ears ceased to hear as her entire world became a painful blur.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Banquet Room

some time later that night...

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Servants shuffled to back away and fall to thier knees in reverence as the double-doors to the room opened, even Sasuke looked up to see who had entered.

The huntsman.

He and his men behind him made thier way toward the head of he room where the teenage Uchiha was chained, standing infront of him with a wrapped bag in his hand.

"Ahh, and how is our Visitor doing hm? Enjoying your stay in my kigdom I'm sure?" he hissed with glee, not even getting a responce from the prisoner.

"Quiet are we? no matter, what I'm here to do is rather an important tradition for me, you see, before any of my little sacrifices must go through that whole ordeal, I like to make them, 'king for a day', you could call it, and as even a child as yourself knows that all kings have royal attire, so Uchiha Sasuke I hearby adorn you with your royal attire" he snickered before pulling something out of the bag that tore Sasuke's heart out...a solid white wolf pelt...head and claws intact...he knew exactly who it was.

Throwing the robe onto the Uchiha's back, the hunter straightened the corpes' head before stepping back, admiring hsi handiwork.

"Enjoy your short reign Uchiha, it will be coming to a bitter end soon" he called over hsi shoulder a she and his cronies left, they all laughing and cheering for thier boss, leaving a torn litle boy and the skin of his beloved friend behind them.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Hey guys, still no spellcheck o you kno what this means? typo-palooza here in chapter 15 so be prepared sand no flaming for it, oh, and on same thing as fanfiction, but the stories are all original and the colors are red, not blue I have a new story out called Child of the Moon, my username is same as mine here and only has 1 chapter but that will change because guess what? this story is ending soon, oh yes, 2-3 more chapters from what I can predict and sadly, the last chapter will be the 'sequel' so yaaa...well enough of this note and on with the story...

Outside at the stone gates of the forsaken castle was a steady stream of dirty, smelly men nd women, all either carrying some sort off loads on thier backs or forcing a skinny, along-in-years farm beast to do it for them. Thier burdens consisted of meats and goods, all things which would improve thier lives if they were to sell them at market, but to keep thier beloved children and daughters, they would have to give more than half of everything they owned to the slavemaster. Should they fail to give him and his followers what they called 'adaquate' offerings, they would lose everything, it had happened far too many times before, even now they saw could see the belongings and beasts of friends and family members on the hunters property, the heads of said beloveds were resting in piles on the ground nearby, the cold keeping the insects of the land from cleaning the remains, giving a gruesome reminder to the peasents of the tyranny under which they lived.

Less than a mile from the iron gates and its cold, stone walls stood a young man, dressed poorly i commoners clothing, a straw, rounded hat on hsi head as he led beside him a pack animal which carried a heavy load on his back. Held in place was secretly bags full of ookami-crafted explosives and smoke-grenades, disguised as packs full of skins, meats and precious gems, they were readily allowed through the gates. This happened many many times throughout the line, as to not gather the attention of the gaurds. But the same leather strap which held thier secret weapons inplace aslo held a ookami warrior in place, the shaggy coats of thier transformed family members hiding them from the sight of the slavers.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Deep back in the Forest

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Teeth snapped and growling was heard as a young white wolf was held down by two of her own family as the clan healer treated the severe wounds to her leg. "

"Amaris, if you dont stop wiggling I have a good mind to just let this get infected, I'd like to see you try and be a decent warrior-wolf with three legs..." old Taka said, the wet rag in her hand still wrapped around the bloody mess of a paw, her threat seeming to have an effect on the patient.

"How on earth Taro and Carn got you out of that giant cage I'll never understand, just thank the God of the Heavens you are still drawing breath" Taka began her lecture, a miserably bored and injured Ammy still pinned under the hands of her two friends who had saved her hide, this was goign to be one long evening.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Inside the castle, the huntsmans personal quarters

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

"I compliment you on your little scheme down there in the banquet hall my brother, but I have to ask, if you lost your little pup out there in the woods, where did you get the pelt you just gave to the uchiha brat?" Asked none other than the closest of kin to the huntsman, Gerd, who paced around the room, his brother lying on a luxurious silk seat, fingering a dagger between his fingers in a relaxed demeanor.

"A very similar gift from an old trader back a few years ago, it seemed a close enough match so I substitued for the real thing See 'Tear Stained Scars', atleast until my scouts find out what happened in that chaos back there"

"Ah, and if you never find the elusive white ookami bitch?" Gerd asked as he too took a seat nearby the fireplace.

"The kid wont be alive long enough to find out either way, I trust you have prepared my sorcerors for the ceremony?" the huntsman asked, this time he stood up, sheathing the dagger and stepped to a nearby window.

"As always big brother, but I fidn that the real question is: are you ready?"

Removing his helmet, a dark outline stood in the midst of the incoming light, even Gerd was happy that the shadows blocked out a view of his brother.

"As always" he commnted back through fanged teeth, his one white eye, a trait usually belongign to that of a hyuuga, stared out he window along with his normal green one, the notorious ability-thief looked out across his land...out to where the sun and the moon were equally hung in the air...a sign that the time for the ceremony was soon.

"Soon, I will have the sharinghan, and will be one step closer to becoming the ultimate hunter"

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

The Banquet Room

a few hours later

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Slowly the room had filled with people, most of them men, the hunstmans men, and the hardly-dressed slave girls who were chained to walls and tables agaisnt thier will.

Security had been raised for this event, in total there were six of those demondogs, or whatever else that they coudl be called, standing on gaurd in various places of the place.

At the head of the main table was the bastard himself, his horned helmet a sickly reminder to sasuke of the thing that adorned his head and back, his life-long friend.

Tray after tray of steaming hot food was breing brought out as quickly as empty platters were taken away. The gluttonous barbarians enjoying thier fill of meat, wine, and women. But thier leader, unliek themselves, stayed composed, and ate nor drank anything, he sat eerily still, staring at Sasuke, who only glared back in rebellion.

Finally the leather-clad man stood to his feet, the room fell silent in reverence to him. The signal was given and the double doors opened, allowing ten robed, bald men to walk in rows of five, some carrying ancient scrolls, others plates full of burning incense.

"My friends, it is my pleasure tonight to once again include you in a special event, for under this crescent moon, I will once again take the strenght of an enemy, and turn it into my own" the men cheered and raved for his speech, as dementd and stuck-up as it was...

Turning around he accepted a sacrificial sword from a nearby mage who offered it in both hands before he stepped up to the platform which held the uchiha in place.

the humming of chanting filled the air as the shadwy preists began incanting on the spell. The lord of this land stood over the raven-haired teen, raisng the weapon into hte air above hsi head, ready to spill young blood.

up in the window looking into the room, a masked young man kneeled at the corner of the opening, his katana drawn in one hand, signal given in another.

at that moment, scores of grenades flew into the room, sending explosions and smoke everywhere...


	16. Chapter 16

Sasuke felt someone loosening the bonds around his hands as the thick smoke filled throughout the room

Sasuke felt someone loosening the bonds around his hands as the thick smoke filled throughout the room. Itachi then lifted his little brother up to his feet and looked for an exit, preferably the windows from which he entered.

A deep, low growl filled their ears, the huntsman was not happy.

"I wont be interrupted!" came a beastly voice from his right. Itachi glanced over in time to see something jumping at him, another mutant……………….but one of the human variety.

Keeping his raven-haired kinsman behind him for safety he drew his weapon in a defensive stance, ready to strike if needed.

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

Her leg freshly bandaged, the white wolf broke away from her friends grasp and took off in the direction of the fortress, there was no way she was going to let her brothers have all the fun of battle without her.

Her padded feet making soft sounds as they repeatedly hit the dirt trail, Amaris ran as fast as she could muster, dodging trees and rocks, the smoke from the explosions becoming visible on the horizon.

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

The wood table snapped in half when that abomination landed on it, his furred, clawed feet breaking through it without any harm to himself.

Stepping towards the brothers, he feverishly began ripping off his armor, exposing his mismatched body. …………the man was a true freak…….he seemed to have body parts of other breeds and races in him………

"What the hell are you?" Itachi asked, both hands on the katana's leather-bound handle.

"The last thing you'll ever see" the beast growled, making a lunge at him, his dagger-like claws coming in for a swipe, the katana hit them head on in a block, but did not even scratch them.

Taking a step backwards he tripped over the unsuspecting Sasuke and they both fell down to the hard floor, his sword clanging as it hit the floor.

Seeing the opportunity to make an easy strike the hunter jumped at the siblings, claws, fangs and nails ready for the kill.

Not even his elite training could help him as his weapon was out of reach, his body still stunned from the fall, the smoke choking his throat and watering his eyes.

Suddenly a flash of white went by and hit the mutant on the left shoulder, the momentum stronger than his, sending them both flying backwards.

Instantly on his feet he rearmed himself with his sword, handing a kunai to his younger brother that he might have some sort of defense, in the time it took him to grasp the small dagger, the elder one was already across the room towards the two struggling figured before him as Ammy held on to the freaks' shoulder with her ironjaw, his claws trying to reach her desperately.

He knew that hand-to-hand combat would be futile against this monster, but what else is there? Looking to the ground, something round and dark colored caught his eye………..an armed Ookami hand-grenade.

For some reason it didn't go off when it hit the ground, if he touched it, it might go off, if he picked it up and ran with it, it might explode, but if it didn't……..

Picking it up carefully in his pale skinned hand he held his sword in the other and ran towards the other end of the room where the family pet and the villain were battling.

His feet leaving the ground he leapt at them, seeing a weak spot in the hunters' armor he grabbed a hold of him and in one quick move he caught the explosive onto a stray hook of his leather tunic, using both feet to kick him to the wall and bringing his hands to his lips, a stream of fire erupting from them.

When the flames touched the shell of the grenade, a giant explosion rocked the fortress as stones and chandeliers came crashing to the ground.

When the dust and dirt settled, the was a hole in the wall where the slavemaster's leader was just heartbeats ago, the scene outside reveling the wolf-mens' victory over the slavers as their bodies littered the round, some missing limbs as they had been torn apart.

Behind him Amaris nudged her nose into his leg as the boy seemed to stunned to move….what had just happened?

So…its all over……the huntsman gone and his slavers either dead or on the run, hundreds of teens and children were set free from slavery and were guided home by a few of the Ookami and now it was time for the Uchiha to return home.

Well, atleast one of them anyway……………….

" So, because of Kegar I cant go home? Then what will I do?" the teen asked his nii-san as he packed up his supply pack.

"I……I don't know otouto" he answered as he tightened the straps of his pouch up.

"If he wishes too, the young Uchiha may come and live with me and my family" said a deep, familiar voice said from behind them.

The Uchiha looked up to his elder brother as if seeking his opinion on the matter.

"I think that would be a wise choice otouto, atleast you'll have a place to stay and wont be in constant danger…"

"Then it is settled"

Later on, as the morning sun rose above the nearby hills, glistening off the white snow on the ground, the brothers said their last goodbyes before the younger was hoisted up onto the back of a wolf mount, his white-furred-friend perched behind the saddle, and the caravan of Ookami's began their long trek home.

Itachi watched them leave until he could no longer see nor sense them, so that was it, his little brother was gone, but he was alive, which was the important thing.

Eventually he slid his white mask back on and leapt into the thick forest, quickly jumping from limb to limb as he made his way back home.

**A/N: okay guys, next chapter will be the epilogue (or prologue…whichever is the one that comes after the story….)**


	17. The End

For over a decade Sasuke Uchiha had lived in the city of Naito with his Ookami friends

For over a decade Sasuke Uchiha had lived in the city of Naito with his Ookami friends. Now he was no longer a foolish teenage boy but is a grown Uchiha man. He still had the company of his best friend the white wolf Amaris, but also the company of his wife Hanae and their young son Asa.

On this summer morning, the raven-haired man slowly sipped a deep brew of stimulating drink to awaken him for he had been up for the entire night with Ammy, helping her with the delivery of her first litter of wolfpups, and next to the birth of his own son, it had been the most important moments of his life.

Now his white-furred friend was resting in her private room of the house with her mate Haru, a handsome black war wolf from the Ookami's renown collection of elite fighting dogs, the proud new parents watching over their children.

"Seven healthy dogs and the usual runt, your pet is a good breeder" Hanae commented as she set his breakfast down before him, she never did understand the closeness between her husband and his 'pet'.

"That she is, is Asa getting ready for his training courses yet?" he asked with a sigh, a small part of him resented her ignorance and the matter.

"He should be out here any time now, poor little thing exhausts himself everyday to be the best, I don't know where on earth he gets it from" she said as she began with the morning chores, looking behind herself only to find out she was talking to no one as her husband had already left the room to go check up on the pups.

XXXXXXXX

"Your children are beautiful Ammy, have you and Haru named them yet?" he asked as he held two of them in his hand as they blindly nosed around his fingers, searching for the warm fur of their mother.

"Daddy? You in here?" a small, black-haired boy asked as he peeked in the sliding paper door.

"Yes Asa, come on in and meet the newest members of our family" he told him as he motioned with his hand to come, smiling as the child came bounding in and sat on his knees next to him, excitedly waiting for his father to let him touch them.

"May he hold one Ammy?" Sasuke asked in respect to his friend, Amaris nudged the smallest one towards him, though it was the runt it was still as strong as the others.

"May I name him daddy?" he asked with his big black eyes looking up to his father.

"I think that would be alright"

"Hmm…..how about Tomo? "

"Tomo he is, you'll grow to be a fine wolf"

XXXXXXXX

The ground shook violently in the early hours of the morning, the flaming ball of fire landing several yards away from the Uchiha household in the city of Naito.

The fortified walls were under attack by the vile barbarian horde, their assault began with a score of trebuchets launching their deadly load over the walls.

Though none of his family were hurt by the rude awakening, he went into a berserker mode, grabbing his armor and sword.

"Sasuke, what are you doing!?" Hanae asked panicked.

"Going to go see what the hell is going on, you and Asa stay inside!" those were his last words on the matter as he ran out to go meet his enemy.

XXXXXXXX

The afternoon sun was beating on the warriors and defenders of Naito, their battle for their home was victorious.

Sliding his sword in the sheath tied to his waist the Uchiha returned towards him home, but when he turned towards the lane leading to his dwelling, the hair on the back of his neck stood up as everything around had been ravaged. The barbarians had gotten in from the back gate.

There was no sign of them now, but he didn't care as he ran towards them, praying that his family was alright, but when he opened the torn and broken door, he felt as if someone had just gutted him with a dull knife.

His wife laid face-down on the floor, the blood soaking the area of her back where she had been cowardly stabbed.

But the more he looked around, the more agonizing his life became as he found the stomped and broken bodies of the eight puppies, they had only just opened their eyes the week before, the corpse of their thick-furred father laying in a sad heap on the floor, several swords sticking out of his hide, the entire arm of a barbarian in his mouth, the tendons and muscles torn from the socket.

He wanted nothing more than to fall to his knees and die, but he still had to know what became of his son and friend.

There was one place in the home, the underground cupboard where he kept his sake, he knew that his Hanae would have sent their child to hide to save him before saving himself.

Stepping out to the backyard, he found the bodies of three armed, over-sized mongrel men, all dead, and laying near them was a blood-stained coat of fur, its chest barely rising and falling.

"Oh Amaris……" those were his only words as he dropped to his knees beside her, she was alive, and with the right treatment would probably survive, but he knew she had seen her children die, and if the wounds didn't kill her, the grief would.

"Asa….Tomo…Safe" he heard her voice in his head, and they brought him to the point of tears in relief. He only left her side to open the cellar door and climb down the stairs, the light from the sun outside revealed his son, dirt and blood splattered all over his as he held his knees and his wolf pup friend to his chest, his tears creating a path down his cheeks, cutting through the caked-on gore.

Without words he fell to his knees beside his son, pulling him into his chest. What he held in his arms now was all he had left in the world.

XXXXXXXX

FF one week

Sasuke pulled a pack full of food and supplies over his shoulder, ever since the loss of most of his family he had become a much quieter, hardened man.

As he had predicted, Amaris died only a day later from a broken heart, thus adding unto his misery.

He had decided that, even though his son and one of the descendants of his friend had survived, there was nothing left in Naito for him. He did not know what he was going to do, or where he was going to go, but that he could no longer stay here.

Kneeling down he checked Asa over, making sure that he was well equipped for what would be a long journey, Tomo contently filling up his tiny arms.

"Let's go son" were his only words as he stood and turned towards the gates of Naito, Asa promptly walking beside him.

XXXXXXXX

"Daddy……I'm tired" the small boy cried, his feet dragging on the ground, Tomo walking with sore paws behind his young master.

"For the last time, we only stop at sun- ASA!" he jumped at his child, picking him up in his arms quickly right as a black adder made a strike at him, where its poisoned-tipped fangs would have hit Asa's face, they tore into the skin and muscles of his fathers leg.

Within heartbeats the terrible snake had a dagger through its skull, its life ended as the grown Uchiha limped to the ground, incredible pain coming from the rapidly spreading poison.

Setting Asa next to Tomo Sasuke tore a strip of fabric from his clothing and began to tightly wrap it several times around the upper join of his leg, being sure to make it tight enough to cut off all the bloodflow to it to keep himself from dying from the venom.

"Daddy…you alright?" Asa asked with worried eyes, his black-and-white furred pup beside him whimpering.

"I-I'm going to be fine" he lied through his teeth to keep his son calm, his panting getting heavier, they needed to get moving now more than ever. Before he was only going to pass through fire country, it seemed now he would have to make one final stop before his journey was forever over.

XXXXXXX

Somehow they had made it here, they had to walk painfully through the night but they were here. Right outside the walls of Kohona, a group of young schoolchildren were playing before having to head to their daily classes.

Nearby the small family sat behind some bushes, Sasuke's face having gone pale, there was not much time left.

"Asa, I want you to listen to me alright? I need you to go out there and play with those kids alright? But whatever you do, I don't care who asks, you don't tell them who your daddy is, alright buddy?" he ordered gently, his hands on the small boys shoulders.

"But why daddy?" he asked, Tomo once again in his arms.

"Don't ask questions, just go on out there, and don't come back to these trees okay? Now get going" those were his last words to him as he pushing him towards the group of kids.

"Goodbye my son" he whispered before turning around and limping away before he was caught there.

XXXXXXX

Almost an hour had gone by and Asa had mixed with the new kids well, they all were very friendly towards him, and especially Tomo enjoyed being petted and the endless attentions.

Then a tall, black-haired man came by.

"Alright kids, time to get back inside before you miss the first bell" Itachi grinned as the children moaned and groaned, for years he would come by on his patrol and make sure they weren't late to class, he knew all these young ones by name, he even knew their parents, but today there was a new face in the crowd.

"Well hello there, what is your name little guy?" the leader of the Uchiha clan asked on one knee next to the stranger.

"I-I-I'm Asa" he answered nervously.

"Well that is a nice name, and who's this?" he asked as he scratched Tomo between the ears.

"T-Tomo" he said, looking down to his feet.

"Well Asa and Tomo, where are your parents?"

The child didn't answer, he just looked down at Tomo's head.

"Asa? Something wrong?" and with that the small mixed-blood began to cry.

"They're gone……..gone forever"

Itachi was taken back by this……..he did not know who or what this kid was…but he was going to do his best and find out. Taking him by the hand the older man led the child through the gates of Kohona, where he would in the end be raised as if he were his own son.

XXXXXXXX

Sasuke laid down on top of the ledge, the sunset dazzling his eyes with its magnificent reds and oranges.

This was the end and he knew it all too well. He had lost everything, his home, his wife, his best friend, and now giving up his only child was the only option he had.

Reaching down he removed the strap of cloth that restricted most of the venom and allowed It to flow through his veins, his breathing and muscle movements immediately feeling the ill effects.

Laying down on his back he looked up to see the early crescent moon in the sky, all alone up there, just like himself.

He closed his eyes and the last breath he had left his body, right as the sun, in all its glory, disappeared from the view of the world.


	18. Authors Note please read

Alright guys this is my after-story author's note, what i want to say is thank you all so much for your constant reviews and support, and for those of you who want a sequel, well I am working on two other stories right now, but if i can scrape a interesting plot for asa and tomo together, then for you my readers I will.

Just incase you actually would go read something else I wrote even if it wasnt based off naruto characters, here are the other stories currently out:

Into a world of darkness: its based of the yu-gi-oh characters seto and mokuba kaiba, i am jointly writing it with fairylilly who told me she was switching over to the website for her stories, but if she as not posted it up here i will do m best to get it. anyways its main plot is that this is alternate universe, meaning gozuburo and noah are still alive, an seto is prettymuch the quiet goth kid who stays in his room al day fixing computers, but when pegasus hhires him to work on a massive virtual world event, and soemthing goes wrong, millions of peopel are caught on what is no longer a game, but a harsh reality, maybe the white priestess heather can show him the light?

Child of the moon: my first original story, that's right , no naruto or yu-gi-oh, its on fictionpress.co under the same username, and as an added bonus its about the adventures of your favorite fighting wolf amaris ookami and her firends and senseis of naito.

if you will go check them out i will be forever grateful, and as for the sequel to this one...hmmmmm..i might have something cooking in the pot which is my mind...


	19. NEW AUTHORS NOTE PLEASE READ

hey guys, ammy here, I saw how much attention [yet lack of reviews] tear stained scars got this month alone, so in gratification i'm writing a sequel to the sequel, thats right its gonna be a trilogy, and if anyone has any suggestions or anythign inparticular they especially want to happen, please do message me about it, i'd love to hear your ideas, I hope to get to writing as soon as possible


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